Without a Home: Tale of the Red Fox
by kagehisa
Summary: NarutoAvatarxover: When Naruto had been given the Kyuubi's chakra, he never expected to be transported to another world. The world of element bending and Avatars will never be same. And neither will Naruto, with his home possibly gone forever.future NaruH
1. Chapter 1

My first cross-over fic! This is badass I tell you! It won't be like anything any of you readers have read (did I make a pun? Not intended.)

If there's any anime that should be together, it's definetly Avatar; the Last Airbender and Naruto. I mean, THINK about it! Numorous enemies to fight, a completly endless amount of combat and possibilities within a world of ruthless enemies at any corner, and an even greater amount of places to go with element bending users...Need I say more? Naruto is going to be quite busy in the world of Aang and the gang, especially with the war waging, expect a little OOCness in Naruto's character, just don't flame me for his attitude change from his world to the world of bending element masters and practitioners. And if you do, fuck you!

Takes place after Naruto attempts to draw Kyuubi's chakra to summon Gamabunta, instead being summoned himself to Aang's world of war. Enjoy y'all!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Naruto, not Avatar The Last Airbender, not their characters...And it freakin' SUCKS!**

Text  
"Words"_  
Thoughts _  
"Jutsus/Techniques"  
**"Kyuubi/Spirit speaking"**  
_**Kyuubi thinking**_  
(Translation)

* * *

Light danced across his vision as his eyes opened. Growling, the young man rubbed his eyes in effort to clear away the spots of black that danced across his ocean blue orbs. His head was pounding, throbbing in time with his heart beat as well as his pulsing sore muscles. Slowly, he pulled himself up and noticed sand between his fingers along with the heat of the malleable grains. After his vision had cleared, the sight that greeted him was anything but welcoming. 

_You have got to be kidding me_, he thought angrily, clenching his fists in restraint to voice his displeasure. _How in the seven hells did I end up in the desert?! I was just thrown into a big ass cavern by Erosennin (Pervert Hermit) only...how long have I been unconscious anyway?_

Naruto looked every which direction to see if anything in the hot wasteland expanse could give any familier landmarks. Nothing. Just endless desert in every direction. He silently cursed his luck, but suddenly gave a bitter laugh. _I should know by now I'm not lucky_, he thought, _The Kyuubi sealed inside of me is proof of that and_...Suddenly he remembered what happened.

Jaraiya, or Erosennin as Naruto had decided to call him for his perverted habits, had taken him to a deep cavern's ledge after he had fainted trying to summon a frog with Kyuubi's chakra to prepare for the Chuunin exams, told him to fend for himself and pushed him down into the precipice to forcibly draw the Kyuubi's chakra from his body. He remembered talking with the giant beast face to face with the seal gates separating them and feeling this enormous amount of energy being fed into him. However, before Naruto could have finished the seals for summoning, his body had been encased in a sphere of red chakra and he lost consciousness. Realization smacked him in the head when he finally knew what had happened.

_Kyuubi! That bastard must've transported me somewhere else somehow when he gave me his chakra! But where the hell am I?! Could this be Suna no Kuni (Land of Sand)?_

In the distance, Naruto saw a large boat with large white sails gliding across the sand. He couldn't see the occupants, but Naruto's instincts told him to evade notice, to which he ignored when he saw opportunity had presented itself to him. Unless he could survive in the heat without shelter or stay alive without food, he had to ambush those sand riders and take their provisions and boat. Consequences be damned on his part, he summoned several Kage Bunshins (Shadow Doubles) and had them all split up and hide around some of the smaller sand dunes as the boat came closer to him, it's speed increasing ever so slightly.

The boat stopped just feet away from the blond shinobi and strange men covered in bandaged and tattered garments leapt out off the deck, their heads, arms and shins bandaged more heavily than the rest of their tunics and clothes, and came running at him with full intent to attack.

The first one that came close used the sand under his feet and sent it in a wave like water, barely missing Naruto who had evaded it. Righting himself, Naruto closed the distance with his opponent in an instant and delivered a solid kick to his chin before the sand user could make a defense, hurling him back several meters and knocking him unconscious.

The remaining six or so sand users suddenly became wary of the blonde's combat skill and attacked at once, sprinting forward so to overwhelm the young shinobi. Before any of them could attack, Naruto's Kage Bunshins leapt out of their hiding spots and struck them all in the head with powerful kicks and punches, rendering them all unconscious before any of them had time to lament their fate.

Dispersing his Kage Bunshins away, Naruto jumped onto the boat and began searching for any provisions or water under the small deck. There was more than enough food and water for him to last a couple days, as well as some weapons, packs, and gold coins. He gathered everything he needed into a single large pack and hefted it over his shoulders, testing its weight. It was bearable and not too hindering. He still had some room in it for one or two weapons.

From the selection, there were a plethora of clubs, knives with a few steel chain weapons and a whole assortment of different weapons, most likely pillaged from other unprepared people. He decided to take the long chain and also took some bandages to cover his face from the harsh sun's glare.

When he had gotten back on deck, he noticed there was no motor or machine of any kind as a rudder or propeller. He smacked his head upon realizing the sand users must have used their sand manipulation to push the boat, which were skills he had no knowledge of. He had no choice but to trek on foot.

The sound of groaning met Naruto's ears signaled the sand users were waking up. Just to make sure they couldn't follow him, he placed three explosive notes on the boat's hull after taking the large canvas sail and jumped off the deck, sprinting away as fast as his legs could carry him. He managed to stuff the giant canvas sail into his new travel pack with little stumbling.

Only seconds later were the tell-tale sounds of his explosive notes detonating and reducing the sand user's boat to burning kindle, Naruto disappearing into the desert wasteland, questions that stormed through his mind all but flying away as he ran away...

* * *

Several hours had passed since the sand user bandits had been beaten with their boat destroyed and useless, add to the fact of their sail being stolen as well as the majority of their supplies and weapons, and they had to wait until night until they could have walked home, with their one and only compass destroyed in their boat's explosion, by using the stars for directions. 

Most of the sand bandits, for which there were eight total, were sporting only minor injuries such as deep bruises and a few small broken bones. Three of them, however, were suffering the effects of headaches due to the blonde's attack to their skulls and broken jaws, leaving them disoriented and unbalanced due to the pain all the way to their encampment near the larger dunes, which provided sufficient shade away from the sun for the majority of the days in the desert.

When they all reached their camp and settled down around a camp fire, the pregnant silence had been broken only moments later by one of the bandit's venomous grumbling.

"I can't believe we were beaten so easily by one kid...ONE KID! Not more than thirteen years old and we couldn't even land one attack on him, and he took most of our provisions, water, weapons...our damn SAIL! That sail of ours cost a fortune itself with cloth being so scarce as is. Our boat destroyed...We were supposed to have the upper-hand! And instead, we were the lambs that were lead to the slaughter! If I ever find that brat-"

"That's enough, Hoang!", snapped the bandit next to him, "And don't bother starting plots for revenge, because let me remind you that by the time that brat has finished with our supplies, he will be long gone out of the desert and may never come back for obvious reasons, unless he wants to get a quick sun tan, which is as likely as an oasis popping out of nowhere! Now SHUT UP and quit grumbling! We need to see to our injuries."

The other bandits grumbled in agreement and Hoang had thought best to keep silent so to not aggravate his leader. That didn't stop his thoughts from plotting ways for revenge against their lamb-turned-wolf blond warrior.

_I don't know from which nation you came from, you damn, troublesome brat, but I promise you the next time I see you, there will be HELL to pay! Ozai would think twice before messing with me!_

The rest of the night had been passed in the bandit's slumber.

* * *

Two days had passed since Naruto had escaped the reach of the sand bandits and his stolen foods were close to being depleted, as well as his water. He had started with three large canteens since he had "procured" them from the bandits and now there was only one full canteen left with a gulpfull of water in another. 

His food was still good and had enough to last three days if he didn't gobble it all down like a crazed carnivore. He couldn't afford to fool around and play the role of an idiot with him being in a desert. He had to do what he hated even more than having to deal with his teammate, Sasuke: Think, plan, asses, and prepare.

Because of the sun's intensity, Naruto's choice of taking those extra bandages had been a correct decision. His entire head and face was now covered and wrapped within the silk straps, with his eyes and mouth being slightly uncovered to allow him to see, eat and drink while not having to half-hazardly readjust his bandages. He had opted to pull the whole cloth of his head band across his head to prevent any dust, heat, or parasites to get into hair.

_If it weren't for my clothes_, Naruto thought, _I'd be mistaken for that Dosu guy_. His thoughts had suddenly become solemn upon remembering his home from recollecting one of the Sound Genin from the Chuunin Exam. That one name also reminded him of his training with the wild-haired, lecherous codger with summoning. Of course, his training was no more than a waste of time. He had wanted to train to prepare himself to fight Sasuke, Gaara, and...Neji. And his promise to beat him for the pain he brought to Hinata

Naruto scowled venomously remembering what that bastard had done to Hinata and his sneering, gloating accomplishment in harming her simply because of her heritage. It didn't take an expert to know that Neji's intentions were to kill her because he could never actually harm the true people that had wronged him somehow or other in the past. He decided to settle for what he could do with a slightly inexperienced person and break them down for the pleasure of seeing their torment and feeling the sensation brought by arrogant violence.

_How dare that bastard?!_, Naruto thought with dripping malice, _I should have been faster so Genji-mayu couldn't stop me from killing him! I would have crushed him into the stone floor, ripped his body to pieces, burn his remains to ashes, and reduce them to dust! _

_Better yet, I could have gauged his eyes out and shoved them down his throat, taken a kunai and slowly open his belly to take them out again, just to hear his agonizing screams! What's the 'Mighty Hyuuga Clan' without their eyes, I wonder?_ Naruto's blood-lust was raging now, knowing it was getting out of control, but he couldn't stop - and had no wish to.

His eyes changed from a deep blue to a crimson red, his pupils sharpening. His whisker marks deepened, bleeding slightly into the bandages and his canines grew a whole inch out of his lips, his nails becoming sharp claws. Wisps of crimson-orange chakra wafted from his skin, rising into the air like steam. He had to release his aggression on something...or someone.

A flicker of movement to his right in the far distance caught his rage-induced attention, the clarity alarmingly precise and accurate despite it being greater than a kilometer in distance. He growled, crouched on his arms and hind quarters, and tensed his quivering muscles, preparing to launch himself to his newly named prey.

They were obviously traders, large tents perched up with various giant cages large enough to hold elephants. There were only a dozen traders at best, all wearing cone-like helmets with curved spikes on the sides, grey and brown chest armor, hip tassels covering their hip, groin, and upper leg areas, and strange shaped greaves without shoes. Their sizes varied in height and build, but all the same, they were as good as dead. Just people that stole animals and sold them to someone else. No one will miss them.

With a burst of strength and a feral roar, he rocketed toward the traders with gliding swiftness. The traders only saw a cloud sand coming toward them and thought it was only a gust of wind, but that assumption died in their thoughts when they saw the monstrosity leading the trail of dust, closing the distance between them in less time than most hunting beasts could run. They ran, screamed, and scrambled in every which direction in their panic, running to their enormous beetles in hopes to escape.

Naruto would have none of them escaping, running past the camp and swerved around back and practically rammed the enormous beetles onto their backs and ripped out the throats of the traders nearest to him after they had been slammed onto the sand. Those nearest to Naruto died within seconds, and his thirst for blood was becoming exponentially greater.

Some of the traders started running away as quickly as their legs could carry them, but they were ultimately ripped in half from the waist from Naruto's running momentum and precision in hacking their bodies apart. The screams of the dying had begun to go silent as their numbers dwindled, and the whole area was being blanketed in blood, limbs and effluvia.

Naruto's arms were drenched in the crimson liquid, his continuous growl resonating in his throat as he scanned across the area and took in the sight of his massacre. His blood-lust haze began to settle and his thought coherency had finally reached his awareness, as well as his feral extremities receding. He breathed deeply, inhaling and exhaling to calm his erratic heart beat.

After a few moments it dawned on him what he had done. He had killed in aggression and blood-thirsty haze, savoring the carnage he had brought onto by his own hands and the feel of ripping into his prey. He felt that he should be sad, terrified, confused, and guilty for taking the lives of others...

...But all he felt was calmness brought by...vindication. And that feeling is what terrified him more than facing the Kyuubi.

**So, your first kill, eh? Or should I say 'kills'? Either way, you did a splendid job indeed. I'm almost proud!**

Naruto gasped and panned in every direction around him to find the source of the voice. He stopped his attempted search when he remembered hearing that menacing voice only two days ago.

_Kyuubi?!_, Naruto yelled in his thoughts. The demon in question gave a rumbling chuckle in response.

**Yes, my little kit! It is I, your resident demon lord. I must say, your coming quite a ways with being away from your home...Or should I say 'Prison'? Regardless **

**You handled those bandage wearing fools with surprising ease despite your inexperience. And you didn't even need my chakra to corrupt and overwhelm your senses. Your blood-lust was equal, if not greater, than even my own. You must have an ocean of hatred brimming in your soul to exceed mine.**

Naruto wanted to retort and deny every word, but he found himself silent, instinctively knowing the Kyuubi was absolutly right. His village was a prizon. He was treated like a crimanal and a monster, either hated or disregarded, always belittled. It was true. He did have an increadible amount of hatred in his soul that wanted release in any ways possible, Naruto's attempts to quell it when he had become part of Team 7.

Instead, it had only made it grow while being kept at bay, having to deal with Sasuke's ridiculing taunts, Sakura's endless and unreasonable insults, and Kakashi's disregard of his presence, ignoring him and refusing to teach him anything and he had to endure it all with a fake smile and hope things would change for him. In the end, they never did.

The Kyuubi decided to speak once again after a moment of Naruto's contemplation. **Nevermind that nonsense for now. You're not in your village anymore...in fact; you're not even in the same world anymore.**

Naruto silently question of what the Kyuubi was talking about, but was interrupted when the demon continued. **I'll explain everything later. First, you need to get us out of this desert before your supplies run out. Do you know which way to go from here?**

Naruto hesitated, still rather confused why he felt so calm talking to his resident -and _how_ he was able to speak with him- but answered through mental communication._ I figured I'd reach cooler land up north, so I've been going at an angle toward north-east. I've been using the sun as a guide post, but I don't know how long or far this desert expands. For all I know, it could take weeks to reach the end of this desert._

The Kyuubi grumbled in frustration, seeing as his vessel had a valid point. Giving him his chakra would be pointless if the distance separating them from salvation was further than the limits of his endurance, especially since his chakra would slowly break down his vessel's flesh.

A bestial snarl from one of the large cages made Naruto pivot and look to the source of the noise. One of the larger cages, easily able to hold a buffalo, quaked and rattled, a silhouetted form moving back and forth within its small prison confines. Slowly, Naruto approached the cage and gasped in astonishment.

An enormous wolf paced back and forth inside the confines of its barred cage, glaring at the orange-clad shinobi with glowing green eyes and dark brown coat of fur. Such were not the first things that caught Naruto's attention. It was its wings and tails.

Its pinions were like a bat's, though much thicker and leathery with sharp, black curved talons at the wing-frame tips and the thumb. It had two tails, each the same length with spiky fur. The wolf's body rippled with muscle, discernable from even a distance with its coat being rather short. Its fangs and claws, however, looked like they belonged to a hunting cat.

The winged wolf growled in a threatening manner as Naruto came closer, his hands held up in a hopefully peaceful gesture. "Relax. I won't harm you. I'm just going to let you out of that cage you're in."

The wolf ceased it's growling, somehow able to understand him, and looked expectantly at Naruto who took out a kunai and jammed it inside the iron lock holding the cage door sealed. Only a few seconds later and the lock click off, landing and sinking itself in the sand. The winged wolf slowly stepped out of its prison and looked in opposite directions as if expecting an enemy to come out of nowhere.

When the beast had come out of the cage completely, Naruto saw then how enormous it was. From its foot to its shoulder, it was easily over five feet tall and over twelve feet long from tail tip to nose. How anyone could capture a beast as large as this and survived must've been hard pressed, especially if it could truly fly with those wings on its back.

The wolf stretched its wings completely, expanding them to their full length, which easily measured well more than seven paces each, and yawned as if it had awoken from a nap. It settled its teal gaze back onto Naruto, making the young blond flinch in surprise and fear if it would bite his face.

The winged wolf didn't' bite him, but instead stepped closer and licked Naruto's face affectionately like a dog, thanking the young shinobi for releasing it. Naruto chuckled and wiped the slobber from his face before stoking the beast's neck. The wolf gave a purr in delight.

"You're welcome, wolf." The beast gave Naruto a strange look and turned its side to the young Genin and crouched, inviting him to ride atop his back. Naruto stood there for a moment, unsure of the wolf's intent, but happily accepted and stroked the wolf's neck again in gratitude.

"Thanks for letting me on. Oh, yeah! I forgot to get something! Can you wait a minute until I get it?" The wolf nodded over its shoulder. "Thanks again. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A double body appeared in a puff of smoke, identical to Naruto's current wear which surprised him as the clone had gone inside the large green tent to search for what it sought. _I don't remember my clothes being that dark in orange._

**My chakra must have darkened them when you went on that rampage of yours**, the Kyuubi commented. **By the way, what did you have your Kage Bunshin go searching for anyway? There couldn't be anything of value in that tent with it being so empty-looking.**

_I was getting some maps to find a short route out of this desert, but I'm also getting some food for our new companion here who's giving me a ride. If I was anything as smart as these guys, I'd keep a map with me to not get lost._

The Bunshin returned, carrying a bag of dried fruits and meats, and a few canteens of water with a rolled up sheet of paper under its arm. The Bunshin handed them all to Naruto and was dispersed into a cloud of smoke after giving the wolf some dried meat, of which it took eagerly.

Naruto had stuffed the extra food and gave one of the water canteens to his new animal companion while putting the other two in his pack and looked through the map his Kage Bunshin had found.

The area in light brown represented the desert, the green area must be forest, and the darker brown was mountain expanses. There were several dots placed around various places on the map, perhaps trade posts, and a single cross, according to map, was only a dozen miles away from the border of forestation in the east. Naruto grinned and gripped wolf's fur, tucking the map under his arm.

"What should I call you?" he said to himself, his eyes ranging up along the wolf's leathery wings. An idea came to mind instantly. "I know. How 'bout I call you Tenrou? I think it suites you. It means 'Sky Wolf.' How's that?"

Naruto wasn't even sure the beast understood him but dismissed it when Tenrou spread his wings and blasted them down to the sand, taking off into the air at wind breaking speeds.

Naruto's breath is knocked from his lungs as the sheer force of the take off and grips Tenrou tightly with his legs and arms. Tenrou howled in triumph from feeling the wind caress him through his coat and the exertion of his wing muscles and sinew, ripping his form through the air toward the setting sun with his new master and friend atop his back...


	2. Chapter 2

And here's the Second chapter for my new fanfic! What everyone has waited for, and I have delivered to you my newest chapter installment. Now, before y'all start asking and suggesting things to make my story better, allow me to say a few things first:

1) I'm having Naruto travel around all the element kingdoms across the Avatar world, so it's safe to assume he'll meet a hell of alot people from the series, including the main, secondary, and third characters from the series.

2) Perhaps you may not know, but Naruto won't be meeting Aang and the gang for a while now, so be little patient and don't give me flames for being slow in making Naruto meet Aang and the gang, or anyone else for that matter. Patience is a virtue!

3) I won't be making Naruto unreasonably strong in so little time, it's going to be a process of trials. Thank you for your patience and that's all, so...

And 4) Naruto WILL meet with Hinata, just not yet or too soon. Naruto is going to do some traveling before he gets with our favorite Hyuuga. That's all!

**Quick WARNING: This chapter containes some suggestive content, so if you don't like, don't procede. If you like, then... **

On with the chapy!!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Naruto, not Avatar The Last Airbender, not their characters...And it freakin' SUCKS!!**

Text  
"Words"  
_Thoughts_  
"Jutsus/Techniques"  
**Kyuubi/Spirit speaking**  
_**Kyuubi thinking**_  
(Translation)

* * *

"What could I get for you, Sir?" 

Naruto blinked and looked to waitress across from the table booth, pausing for a second to take in the girl's revieling garments and clothes...or lack thereof, with her dress having no shoulder straps and being so low cut, it revealed a generous amount of cleavage and skin across her front. Naruto tore his eyes away from the sight and cleared his throat. "I'll have mint tea, grilled fish, and beef stew, please. And could I have a raw slab of meat for my wolf outside? I would appreciate it."

"Of course, sir." The waitress gave Naruto a seductive smile and gave him a wink before leaving to take his order, leaving a somewhat flushed blond shinobi fidget in his seat. Naruto couldn't help but wonder when or how he had become a magnet for female attention ever since he had entered the bars and restaraunts spread throughout the forests near and around the border of the desert.

Three days had passed since Naruto and his new traveling companion, Tenrou the winged wolf, had managed to vacate the desert. After Tenrou and Naruto had reached forestry, Naruto had told his new companion to leave if he wanted to, or follow along with him. Suprisingly, Tenrou had chosen to travel with the young warrior instead of indulging in it's freedom to go and do whatever it pleased. This choice gave Naruto a relieved feeling, having grown to like the beast dispite the short period of time being with him. Shortly after, Kyuubi had spoken to Naruto and revieled to him how he had been transported to this new world.

To put a long explanation short, Naruto had drawn out too much of the Kyuubi's chakra that the fox _didn't_ give to him, making the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) go awry and actually summoned _**himself**_ to a different world, as from the effects of Naruto's poor chakra control. Of course, that was only the start of the troubles. Kyuubi had no idea what world this was or how to get back to their's, but Naruto had shockly decided that it didn't matter if they returned or not. Naruto saw this as a chance to make a new life for himself without being unjustly hated by the masses, which he told to his demon resident. After the debate had been settled, Kyuubi had, rather crypticly, suggested to train Naruto in finer chakra control, Kyuubi commenting, "**Better to have a fool vessal know a few things useful than a complete idiot without skills who claims to know everything.**" As a result, Naruto's chakra control had become considerably better in the past two days upon starting the training, involving running, sitting, resting and jumping across and on water.

The training had been difficult, Naruto often falling into the water repeatedly, but after a whole day of practice, Naruto's chakra control had become even better than Sakura's. Immediatly after, Kyuubi demanded Naruto learn how to use chakra strings when using his weapons so to not lose them during a skirmish. Amazingly, Naruto had taken to the skill like it were second nature. When he wasn't training, Kyuubi taught him to better his speaking skills and tactics for negotiating, distracting, and to enhance his senses by will alone. If the last training demand weren't enough to iritate Naruto, it was Kyuubi demanding that he make a cloak from the sail he took from the sand raiders to hide everything he wore and any possible weapons he could conceal beneath it to suprise any enemy. His new cloak was dark grey and reached to his knees. He had chosen to keep his head covered in bandages to prevent anyone from seeing his face if this new world was as lawless as it appeared to be, his head band still covering his hair.

"Here's your meal, sir.", said the waitress from before, snapping Naruto from his inner monologue and placing his ordered meal onto the table booth, only the slab of meat missing. The waitress was quick to explain. "My apologies, however, the chef was insistent that you wait until you've finished your meal before taking it to your animal friend outside. Please accept our appologies for this inconveinience." she finished with a small bow. Naruto gave her hand wave, dismissing the issue and accepting the meal arrangements. He gave a test-taste for the fish and the stew and thanked the waitress for the meal as she left to take more orders, though not before giving him one last wink and even blew a kiss to him and went to take more orders, once again leaving Naruto flustered and flushed like a tomato.

Naruto finished his meal in moments and left a few silver coins for the pay, headed to the kitchen and picked up his meat slab which was wrapped and left the restaraunt briskly, completely unaware of two hooded figures sitting at one of the tables in the far back following his movements and stood up to follow him when Naruto had exited through the door. They left their money for their meal and went to follow the cloaked individual outside with as much stealth they could muster without raising attention to themselves.

Their attempts were unsuccessful, as both figures were tripped and pinned to the ground too quickly for either of the two could counter or be prepared the instant they stepped out of the door way. They struggled a while, trying ot push themselves up, but their captors were too heavy and wouldn't budge the slightest. The one on the left looked up to one of their captors and saw a clenched jaw of dozens of jagged fangs in the muzzle of an enormous, dark brown wolf with teal-green eyes, growling menacingly. The hooded figure looked to the other captor and noticed it was the bandaged stranger they were intent on following. Now they were at his mercy.

"Care to tell me why you two were following me?", Naruto asked evenly, though the edge of a hidden threat was not lost to his followers. They had remained silent for a minute until Naruto's patience had dwindled.

"Answer me, or your as good as feed for my companion here." As if to support this threat, Tenrou pressed his captive into the soil harder, his growl becoming predatory. The figure under Naruto's foot shifted a little and pulled the hood back, revieling a round face of sharp features with large brown eyes rimmed in char-coal black, shaggy brown hair, two red verticle marks on each cheek and full, dark lips.

"We weren't intending to attack you or steal anything of your's", the youth spoke in a soft and scratchy voice, "We were only interested in hiring you for something that you could help our group with. We need warriors with experience to help us free a valley under Fire Nation control. We're willing to pay any reasonable price you ask."

Naruto raised a curious eye brow, and slowly removed his foot ot allow the youth to stand, nodding to Tenrou to do the same, though he did with reluctance and kept himself in position to strike. The second figure stood and pulled back the hood, revieling a docile, angular boy's face with a large nose with short brown hair and small dark eyes. A quiver of arrows and bow were seen strapped to his back through the hood opening.

"What makes you assume I'm for hire?", Naruto asked.

"You're wearing the bandages of the sand nomads", the shaggy haired youth answered, "And that cloak of your's was once their sail, right? That must mean you travel often. Like most mercenaries in these parts. You _are_ a mercenary, right?"

"To answer your question, I did steal these bandages and sail from sand nomads, but that was only because of desperation due to the circumstances at the time. I'd get more into detail, but let's get down to the business at hand. You say you wish to hire me?" The two nodded. "Alright. What do you, or your superior or leader, want to hire me or any mercenary for?"

The shaggy haired youth hesitated slightly, but was once again quick to answer. "Have you heard of Fire Nation controling this area?"

"I've heard of them around here, but what does that have to do with my services?" Naruto had heard of elemental manipulators capable of controling certain elements like shinobi would with Ninjutsu from much of the talk passed around in the public taverns, but he had yet to meet one and see what they could do. He guessed their bending element is what they control and use.

"Our leader is named Jet. He founded the group of Earth Nation rebels named the Freedom Fighters to fight against the Fire Nation and protect the valley from excessive destruction. However, because of many firebending soldiers having been transfered to the housing village a few miles from here, we need help anyway possible, and Jet had asked us to go searching for any and all mercenaries willing to assist us and kill Fire Nation soldiers. We're asking to hire you to kill some firebenders while our group handles the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers and get the people they're holding captive to safety. Will you accept?"

"What's the payment, exactly?" Naruto asked, his interest suddenly piked.

"Anything you choose. Money, food, weapons, clothes...anything you demand for pay." For such an offer, Naruto was quick to accept. After they had all exchanged introductions, they had set off toward the east through the encompasing forest, Naruto aback Tenrou in flight with Smellerbee and Longshot, the former having told Naruto of being female which had eased his confusion as to adressing the girl he had somewhat mistaken for a young boy, also being a weapon master of close combat and a tracker able to follow trails as old as weeks with ease. He had learned that, just as his name, Longshot was an expert archer and marksman with projectile weapons with his arrows or spears.

They had all been in flight over the forest for the better part of an hour when Smellerbee signaled to land into the forest. Tenrou decended after a nod from Naruto and landed into a clearing with the tall, twisting trees looming above them and trapping them inside below the canopy. Smellerbee whistled loudly toward the tree-tops, echoing through the canopy. Moments later, dozens of other dark clothed and armored youths of varying ages, sizes, and genders came jumping down from the various tree branches surrounding Naruto and his new aquantencies, forming a tight circle around Naruto and Tenrou, staring curiously at them like children would an animal on exhibit. Some were young, adolescents that should be playing with toys instead of fighting against people that would kill without hesitence, while others were in there late and early teens, most lean and average in stature, a few large, broad, and muscular amongst them. Various types of make-shift armors, weapons, and clothes were like hastely strewn and forged.

A moment passed and the wall of warriors separated to allow someone through the crowd, a handsome young man in his middle teen years with shaggy brown hair like Smellerbee with defined facial features and a straw piece in his mouth. He wore a pauldron armor piece over a dark orange top-robe with long black sleeves and arm gaurds, brown pants with dark leg grieves, and sectioned tassets covering his thighs. He had two hook swords sheathed to his back, and he gave Naruto a confident smirk.

"Welcome, stranger", the young man said, his voice smooth and deep, "It's a pleasure to meet you. And your companion. We thank you greatly for coming to help us fight our enemies with us. My name is Jet, leader of the Freedom Fighters. What is your name, warrior?" Naruto hadn't answered right away, feeling too cautious to freely give away his name as per what he normally would as before, so a title seemed better suited for the moment.

"My given name is personal to me alone, but you may call me AkaiKitsune (Red Fox), or Fox, whichever you prefere. It is the title I gave myself for when I'm on the hunt." Many of the younger warrior fighters started to whisper amongst eachother while some of the females were swooning with affection toward the mysteriousness of the young shinobi's introduction, much like how they had with Jet when first meeting him. Naruto decided to back to the issue at hand.

"Introductions aside, where are the firebenders you want to me to kill?"

Jet smiled again, either from satisfaction or cockyness, Naruto couldn't tell, but he didn't think it would matter for very long, since he intended not to stay any longer than nessisary.

"Strait to the point, eh?", Jet drowled with barely contained amusement, for what was anyone's guess, "All right then, I'll tell you what our plan is for tomorrow..."

* * *

Two hours had passed since Jet had relayed the plan and proceedings to Naruto. After hearing he inteneded to flood the village with dammed water from the river reservoir, Naruto had insisted that another plan be used to save the villagers. All but Smellerbee and Longshot, who supported Naruto's opinion, decided to follow Jet's plan and Jet went into a long retelling of how the Fire Nation had wronged him and others like him, burning down villages, killing or enslaving the innocent, and conquered all the beautiful lands and turning them into waste exspanses. 

To put it simply, Naruto was furious and was ready to kill the pompous bastard for suggesting murdering hundreds of innocent people for the sake of conveniency and ease when standing for justice against oppression. In one day, Naruto learned there were few things worse than hypocrisy in the name of victory and glory. He angrily turned away from the cheering crowd and left a single message to everyone that could hear:

"You are no better than those Fire Nation soldiers that would sacrifice their underlings for the sake of an easy victory. If you truly are the great leader your friends had told me you were, I see that you have become nothing but a hypocrite. I won't be party to the murder of the innocent for the sake of saiting your lust for revenge." Jet and everyone within hearing distance had been too shocked to reply or retort, but if anyone could, they wouldn't.

Since then, the Freedom Fighters had completely avoided him and could never look him in the eye, guilt perhaps tearing at them for being reminded of the unforgivable act they were all accomplices in. Naruto sighed heavily and knelt down next to Tenrou, pulling off his cloak and folding it into a head cushion. Just as he was about to enter the land of dreams, a soft, scratchy voice whispered softly. It was Smellerbee.

"Fox? Are you awake? I-if you're not, then...um, could I talk to you about something? I'm sorry for waking you up, but-"

"I'm not asleep yet, so yes, you can speak with me. What is it?" Sighing in relief to Naruto's approval, Smellerbee quietly walked around Tenrou to not disturb him and knelt next to Naruto after sitting himself up. Naruto raised his eyebrow in slight suprise to taking in Smellerbee's sleeping garments; a blue robe with black embroidery which hugged the curves of her body like a glove, revieling the budding assets of a maturing female. Her war paint was absent.

"What you said to Jet...You were right: There is no excuse for killing the innocent. Also, I want to apologize on Jet's behalf, as well as the rest of the Freedom Fighters who had supported his decision. Jet had told me that he was just going to fight off the Fire Nation soldiers while everyone else get the villagers to safety. I guess he was just lying and had us go off so he could find an easier way of killing the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Ever since you had left though, Jet had become very withdrawn and solumn, as if your objection had struck something in him. I don't think anyone has ever told him that he was no better than the Fire Nation, but I'm glad you had. He also asked me to relay a message to you; If there's any other way to rid the Fire Nation from this valley and help the villagers, he's all ears."

"Then tell him to leave handling the Fire Benders and helping the villagers to me and, should I be killed, he could do what he chooses since I wouldn't be able to stop him in death. He can drown them if he still wants to. But why else are you here, Smellerbee? You could have told me this tomorrow morning."

Smellerbee bit her lip, drawing her eyes away from Naruto's gaze realizing he had caught her and blushed slightly after a moment of silence passed. She sighed and drew her gaze back to meet Naruto's, who was waiting expectantly for her answer like he would for Hinata when she would become nervous. Naruto shook his head to clear those thoughts away. He didn't want to remind himself of anything from his past world, not even the one person that was honestly kind and a true friend to him and waited until Smellerbee asked an unexpected question that left Naruto suprised.

"Can I see your face? I...want to know what you look like. Please?"

After Naruto nodded his consent, Smellerbee slowly reached a slim hand out to the bandages around his face, slipping his head band off first and unravled the bandages with careful slowness, like unwrapping an ancient artifact, causing Naruto's breath to slow and his heart hammer in his chest as he waited for the young girl to finish her task. When the last length of the bandages fell away, Smellerbee's eyes were drawn like a moth to the flame towards Naruto's ocean blue eyes, drifted down to his deep whisker-mark scars which caused Smellerbee to giggle in elation as her fingers traced each whisker scar.

"Is this the real reason you gave yourself the nickname 'Fox', Fox?" Smellerbee's comment only served to make Naruto even more flushed with embarassment, the feeling of her soft fingers dancing across his cheeks becoming unbearably good to him.

Smellerbee trailed her eyes across the rest of his face, allowing her fingers to trail everywhich way she wanted and feeling the heat and pulse escalate as her fingers trailed closer to the collar of his jacket, passing the lump of Naruto's taught neck. He was certainly handsome, just around her age and she was elated for it. Smellerbee took the zipper and slide it down experimently, interigued to the design of it since she had never seen anything of the like and slid the jacket off after pulling the zipper down completely. Naruto had worn his heavy armor underneath his jacket and Smellerbee was making short work of stripping him of his clothes and dispite the rush of the experience, Naruto had to stop it before it went out of hand. He grasped Smellerbee's wrists before she could reach for the rim of his pants, earning a pleading look from the shaggy haired girl.

"Do you know what you're doing?", Naruto asked evenly, gazing into Smellerbee's eyes to search for any uncertainty. Amazingly, he found none. Smellerbee smiled and leened into him closer, kissing his lips softly. Naruto blushed again, but he didn't pull away, letting Smellerbee do what she wanted. Her hands pressed against his chest, tracing the hard, flat muscles along his chest and slipping it past his belly, teasing every abdominal muscle by circling it twice and grasped the waistband of his pants. She broke the kiss and looked Naruto squarly in the eyes.

"When I first joined the Freedom Fighters, I was always treated like a crippled child. No one wanted to be near me and thought I would get in the way with being a weak-looking girl, so I trained myself to fight and I forgot myself, in a sense. I ignored the fact that I was a girl and my prowess earned me respect with my friends.

"But then, my...first bleeding had came and everyone reminded themselves why they had wanted to stay away from me: I was a girl, and girls were thought weak when fighting. I was alone once again, until Longshot came and joined the group. He took notice of me and treated me like a close friend, and he even thought of me as a sister he once had.

"Before long, I grew to like him deeply and I told him this, hoping he wouldn't refuse me. But he did. He said he didn't want a relationship with uncertainties, having been friends for so long and told me he couldn't love me the way I deserved. I cried for hours after that, but the next morning, I felt a great weight disappear off my shoulders. He and I became friends again and were now like siblings, though I still wish it were more." She paused as her eyes began to gather tears, but she managed to blink them away.

"I know this may seem sudden and unreasonable, but when you had objected to Jet's plan of flooding the village, I...felt a great peace in me. You made me feel at ease. When you speak to me, it's never with any kind of negative intent or disrespect. You speak to me like a warrior, but also as a girl. No one ever has. And I don't want to miss the chance of being with someone that sees me as who -and what- and I am! I'm a fighter, but I'm also a girl, and you see that in me. I don't want to pile on my regrets on my shoulders without at least making an effort to try.

"Will you grant me one request, regardless of what it may be and accept what I feel?" Naruto, feeling frozen with shock from the depth of her honesty, nodded only slightly. "Please...Make love to me. I want my first to be with someone that sees me for everything I am. I know I'm not pretty or curvy like the rest of the girls here, but..."

"Who says you're not pretty?", Naruto asked when she paused. The absurdity of a girl he barely knew asking him to make love to her was still appearent, but he wanted to know a few things first. "I find you very attractive. But, do you really want this? For all you know, I could be an abuser and just use you. Are you trully willing to go through with this?"

If Naruto was trying to disuade her, it hadn't worked. If anything, her smile grew wider and kissed him passionately, slipping her tongue into his crevis, savoring the taste and pressed her body close to his to feel his heat. After his nervousness had finally abandoned him, he grasped Smellerbee's form closely to his and ran his hands over her back and shoulders, earning a pleased moan muffled by their sealed lips. Naruto had once thought that his first (intentional) kiss would be with Sakura, but she was fast becoming a distant memory. He easily slipped off Smellerbee's robe and broke the kiss to gaze at her body.

Her skin was pale, creamy in color and her frame was slim but lithe. Her breasts were not large, but decently sized that could fit in his hands with dark aroleas surrounding her pert nipples. Her legs were toned and slim, no doubt the result of her training, with a traingle patch of hair around her nether regions. She really had a beautiful body, a warrior woman's figure. He kissed her throat and left a trail of kisses as he went lower, paying special attention to her breasts which made Smellerbee shudder out lustfully and continued until he reached her belly, Smellerbee protesting for the reprieve. He pulled himself up to meet her gaze and kissed her deeply, his arms supporting his body above her's. He broke the kiss slowly and knew at that moment, there was no turning back.

"Before this night is over", Naruto said breathlessly, "I want there to be no regrets for either of us to carry. So, I won't hide who I am." He lowered his mouth next to her ear. "My name is Naruto. Remember it well, because I won't forget your's, and I want to remember this night."

Smellerbee let the tears fall, a relieved smile planted across her face and allowed all her inner anxiety to melt away, feeling the loving words Naruto had told her. She shifted herself to allow him to enter her and gave him a nod to continue after seeing his hesitance, assuring him she wanted this more than ever. Naruto took his decent and entered her.

That night, two lovers formed a bond that transcended the fates themselves as they slept in eachother's arms under the full moon light next to their sleeping winged gaurdian...

* * *

Jet rubbed his eyes furiously, trying his damndest to keep his eye-lids from closing. Last night had not been one of his most pleasant nights, what with Fox having told him he was no better than the Fire Nation. He tried to ignore the memory that seemed to haunt his mind every waking second, but the words were relentless and continued to repeat in his mind. Maybe he was right. But Jet couln't focus on the issue at the moment. Sleep depraved, mind exhausted from over-viewing the plans Fox had given him to relay to his fighters from early morning...He really needed a sedative to gain some rest. His head was ready to burst! Tiny, a large, heavy and muscular teen boy came to Jet's hut in the tree tops and bowed before speaking to his leader. 

"It's all set, Jet", Tiny said, his voice deep and rumbling, "Fox's already down in the village to lead the Fire Nation foot soldiers to forest and everyone's in position for the ambush. Smellerbee and Longshot are with him to assist and the firebenders won't know what hit 'em. We're waiting on your order, leader."

_Good_, Jet thought, _Now we can end the Fire Nation's control of this valley and we're free from them until the next batch comes, but at least we'll have the village safe for next time. Everything else is in your hands, Fox. Don't let us down_. "I'm issuing the order now. Ambush them when Fox orders it done. Show them no mercy! I'll go to the dam and prep it for bursting when the signal is seen. Do your best, fighter."

Elsewhere, atop the canopy of the high trees, Naruto remained perched in a crouching position for the first sign of the passing troops of Fire Nation foot soldiers. Smellerbee was next to him, gripping her kukrei knife in antipation for the coming fight, clad in her fighting wear of a leather breast plate, shoulder gaurd plates, and dark brown body tunic with her war paint dressed on her face for combat. Longshot was in the canopy of the tree a few yards from their's, clad in his blue combat attire with his quiver and bow. Smellerbee's hands were trembling with anxiousness and she was nibbling on her lip nervously. Naruto placed his hand atop her's and gave it a gentle squeeze, snapping her out of her trance and panned to her lover. Naruto was still keeping his sights on the clearing below.

"Just stay calm for a little while, Smellerbee", Naruto said soothingly, "We'll have our battle, but we have to wait for the conditions to work in our favor. Trust me, the Fire Nation won't even manage to run away."

"What do you mean, 'wait for the conditions to work in our favor'?" Dispite Smellerbee's question, her real interest was their joined hands, having remembered those hands of his that touched her hungrily the night before, caressing her skin until she was feverish, and held her to him after their coupling until morning. The memory made a shiver run through her like lightning striking a tower. A blush gathered to her cheeks.

Naruto had noticed her attention was toward their hands, but he continued to explain. "In about three hours from now, storm clouds are going to gather above this valley and rain heavily across this it, which will help fill the resevoir at the dam. The rivers will flood and most of the roads are going to be unpassable for travel.

"Earlier, while everyone and you were still asleep, I infiltrated the base camps inside the village walls and stole one of the Fire Nation travel papers. According to the document, a travel party will have to patrol the area to search for any straglers from the village and scout for enemies. They'll have to go early, no doubt knowing it will rain today, so to avoid getting lost in the shower at the start of their patrol. When the rain comes down and they come across this clearing, we'll ambush and kill them, and sneak into the village to take the villagers to higher ground. And when we have them all, Jet will burst the dam and drown the remaining Fire Nation soldiers and benders with the dammed water. Seems pretty simple to do, eh?"

"It sounds more complicated than it should be."

"Don't worry. Just follow my lead and we'll free this valley before nightfall. Just trust me, okay?"

Smellerbee allowed a smile grace her lips after hearing him ask for her trust, even though it was playful, it still made her feel a great sense of ease as before. Before she could continue letting her thoughts wander, Naruto hissed and became suddenly rigid and tense, his eyes drawn to the clearing where a patrol troop of firebenders, their red and brown armor all too noticable with their white skeletal-like masks on horned helmets, riding aback strange animals that looked like grey lizards with three horns and the head of a rhino. There were over thirty men total.

They were too early!

"Damn it!", Naruto cursed, "We'll have to kill them now and lead the rest of the village stationed soldiers outside the village now! If we don't now, we won't get another chance! The rains won't come for another season. I'll need Tenrou to handle them. Smellerbee, go back to your encampment and warn everyone the soldiers started their patrol earlier than planned and have them ready for infultrating the town. I'll deal with these guys with Longshot and Tenrou. Please, go!"

Smellerbee took off immediatly without delay and Naruto lept into the clearing, his cloak billowing behind him and landed in the center of the troop party, suprising the soldiers and making them reflexively step back away form the stranger. One of the soldiers stepped forward. "Who the hell do think you are, idiot!?", he yelled, "Do you know who we are? Identify yourself now, scum!"

"I'm your exsecutioner." Before any of the soldiers could raise further question, Naruto launched two kunai and pierced the throats of two of the soldiers, the force making them land on their backs with a dull 'thud' and pulled his kunais back with his chakra strings within the blink of an eye. The soldiers stepped back further in prep to attack.

"NOW, LONGSHOT!!"

No sooner did his call escape his lips was there a rain of arrows that fell with deadly precision atop of the soldiers, killing three in the attack, wounding over several. After the arrows ceased their fall, the firebenders threw several consecutive blasts of fire towards Naruto, who evaded the blasts with ease and slipped through their guards, severing their throats with his kunai before any of the soldiers could cry for help and delivered bone-crushing fist blows through their armor plates, shattering their rib cages. The komodo-rhino's were sent into a charge toward the cloaked warrior, aiming to ram him and run him through.

They never reached him. Tenrou had swooped down and clawed the grey beasts into ribbons, killing the animals in an instant, and dropping the remains in his jaws onto a crowd of soldiers who were unfortunate to not avoid the fall of one of the heavy beast's corpse, crushing them upon impact. The soldiers began throwing balls of fire to their new enemy, still trying with little success to strike to Naruto who was cutting his enemies down left and right. Tenrou shifted his direction and position in mid-air, evaded the fire blasts, and flew toward the remaining twenty or so soldiers and began "spinning" his whole body to impersonate a drill, much like Kiba and Akamaru's Garouga (Double Wolf Fang), and tore through the soldiers with his fangs and claws with unstopable speed and force, skidding to a stop on the ground after managing to tear apart a dozen soldiers.

Naruto was having less efficiency in killing his opponents since they had backed away a considerable distance away from him, but that was only a temporary setback after Naruto decided to cross his fingers and conjured over a dozen Kage Bunshins and had them all poised and ready for the killing blow, their kunais held fast. "Finish them all!" Taking their command, the rest of the soldiers were dead before they could even cry for help. Naruto observed the results of his attack with Longshot and Tenrou, the Fire Nation corpses littering the field with blood and bodies. Tenrou approuched slowly, his brown coat matted with blood and pieces of meat followed by Longshot after jumping to the ground and taking his arrows form the bodies. Naruto Looked them squarly in the eyes with a commanding gaze and adressed them both seriously.

"Tell Jet and the rest of the Freedom Fighters to start evacuating the villagers while I handle the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers. The new signal will be a small explosion in the air above the village. When it's seen, use what water there is and we'll suprise them and keep them wet to prevent their bending powers from getting stronger. Tenrou will take you there faster, so get on his back! Hurry!!"

Taking his orders, Longshot nodded and jumped onto Tenrou's back and the wolf took to the air with single flap of his wings. Naruto breathed in deeply to steady himself and turned his sights toward the village, concentrating his chakra to his legs and feet for the speeding burst. A flicker of movement caught his eye and saw the familier tunic that belonged to Jet making his way down to village along a tree-lidded slope, followed by over a dozen Freedom Fighter warriors.

That was all he needed to see to know that Jet had recieved his message and bursted down into the valley with thunderous speed, a trail of dust following him from behind...

* * *

Three hours passed within the blink of an eye, and the village had been freed from the Fire Nation soldiers, all the villagers accounted for and unharmed. The remaining firebenders and foot soldiers were decimated upon Naruto's arrival, unprepared for the sudden and unexpected attack and stationed inside their tents across the village expanse. It had been an easy task to draw them from their quarters with their weapons ready for combat and drawing their attention away from the Freedom Fighters that had quietly evacuated the villagers outside of the town walls. 

It had all gone according to Naruto's plan, dispite the change in schedual and action, and just as Naruto had promised, the explosion seen above the village was Naruto's Kage Bunshin, and the dammed water had been more than enough to handle the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers, killing over a dozen and knocking several unconsious with the tide wave pressure, dousing many more in water and preventing them from sufficiently bending their element and leaving them dissorientated and vulnerable to the Freedom Fighter's attacks. Remarkably, the village barely sustained any damages, and all the soldiers that survived were held in custody to pay for their crimes against the towns people.

That doesn't mean to say, however, that the Freedom Fighters hadn't suffered losses.

Tiny, the large teen warrior and Jet's third in command, had been killed during combat while fighting against several firebenders and foot soldiers at once. He had succeded in taking out a few of them, but a ball of flame had struck him in the eyes and burned them to dust, leaving him vulnerable and open for foot soldiers to run him through with their long spears, peircing through his belly and chest through his major organs. He had died while crushing a stray firebender, preventing him from escaping. He had been burried when the rains had come pouring down across the valley, along with Digroot, a young child who was killed by a firebender.

Jet sustained a few injuries when going into combat in the village wall with the foot soldiers, but they were minor and nonthreatening at best. The same could be said for the majority of the Freedom Fighters.

All but Smellerbee, who lay wounded in her hut with Naruto kneeling beside her, dressing the wound on her belly from a foot soldier in the skirmish from the advancing troops. She had her breast plate removed to try fixing the wound, leaving her upper body clothed in her chest bindings. Longshot was next her also, opposite to Naruto and wipping her forehead with a damp cloth to soothe her heated skin. She was in total pain, unable to rest and was sweating profusily.

Her wound was a long gash that went from one side to the other of the middle of her belly, an inch in depth with blood slowly seeping out of the gash. Naruto had been trying to stop the bleeding to stitch her wound together, but the blood was coagulating too slowly. It had been an hour since she had recieved the wound and she was still writhing in pain from it. That left only one conclusion:

_Poison_ ,Naruto thought. _They must have laced their weapons with it to kill any straglers that could have escaped if they had attacked. How can I get it out of her system?! If this continues, she'll die of blood-loss before nightfall! How?! _Then a thought came to him.

_Kyuubi! Maybe he can heal her like he healed me before! Kyuubi!!_

**You don't need to ask, my little kit. I've heard all your thoughts concerning your new mate's survival. Quite the session you and she had last night. And so young, too! Color me impressed.**

Naruto angrily gritted his teeth together for the demon's audacity but managed to calm himself down after reminding himself that the Kyuubi could heal her, so he kept his anger in check.

_Please, Kyuubi!_ , Naruto mentally pleaded to the demon, _Please, give me your power to heal her and remove the poison in her system! I ask you...No, I'm begging you to help her! Please! She means too much to me to let her die like this while in so much pain. Please!!_

Kyuubi recoiled in shock from actually hearing his vessal pleade so desperately for the survival of his lover. The demon had always seen his kit struggle through his harsh life, often seeing more failures than accoplishments, but he had never seen the boy -No, young man- beg for anything in his life, make up any excuses or act desperate. Not even for recognition from the people or children of his own village. For him to actually beg for something was astonishing. Smellerbee must mean pricelessly to the young shinobi. After a moments pause, the Kyuubi replied.

**Alright, kit. If you want to save her life, I'll give you some of my chakra, but when you take to leave again, we're putting your training into over-drive. Understand?** Naruto nodded eagerly, desperate to helping Smellerbee. **I'm giving you my chakra now, so take your mate's neck and open her mouth. You'll have to concentrate the chakra to your mouth to drive my energy into her body. You need to keep complete contact. If you don't, you could burn her organs to dust. My chakra should also help replace her blood.**

"Longshot", Naruto said to the docile archer, snapping him from his gaze to Smellerbee, "Go and get some new bandages and herbs. I'll handle the wound and stitch it together. She'll need some sleeping herbs to allow her any rest and she needs it once I'm finished. Please hurry."

Longshot hesitated for scant few seconds, but otherwise left briskly out of the hut. Once he had left, Naruto turned to Smellerbee and gently grasped her behind her neck and lifted her up. She whimpered slightly in pain.

"It's alright, Smellerbee", Naruto said soothingly, "I'm going to heal you, so I need you to relax and trust me. Please?"

"G-go ahead, Fox." Her answer was weak in reply, but she still managed a smile for humor in spite of her torture, making Naruto feel a sense of pride for her. Even using his nickname at a time like that!

Taking her approval, Naruto did as Kyuubi instructed him and concentrated his chakra to his mouth where he sealed over Smellerbee's, earning a suprised squeek from the girl, but no protest. Kyuubi released his energy to his vessal and the red energy coursed through him to Smellerbee and spread like a wild fire, healing her wound rapidly, destroying the poison traces in her blood system and creating billions of new blood cells and giving her body new energy to strengthen her completely. It had all taken less than a few seconds, and Smellerbee was healed completely. She widened her eyes in suprise and confusion. She felt only a few breaths away from death's door before and now she felt she could wrestle a badger mole into submission.

"How...What did you do?" Her question was obvious to Naruto, who only smiled sheepishly.

"I healed you, and burned the poison out of your system. That's all you need to know for now. Longshot should be here any moment now with some sleeping herbs to let you rest. You've had an exhausting day after all, so you'll no doubt need it. I'm going out to get packed for departure for tomorrow. It has been wonderful with you these past two days, and if you like, you can come with me. I'll be outside to let you dress."

Smellerbee had other ideas, grasping his wrist and pulled him down onto her futon, flipping herself on top of him with a devilish smirk gracing her lips, taking in the sight of a flustered Naruto beneath her. "You expect me to sleep when you get me all hot and bothered with that kiss of yours? I don't think so! You're responsible for making me this excited, so you're going to satisfy me now, or I'll have to tie you up with my strongest length of rope and have my way with you. Your choise, my FOXY lover!"

_Kyuubi, you bastard!_, Naruto mentally wailed, _You made her aroused when you gave her your chakra, didn't you?!_

**And?** the Kyuubi drolled, **You sound unhappy for it. Come on, kit! Let loose some of your frustration with some "sexual recreation" and then you two can sleep. I want heirs to my power and legacy, damn it, and you'll have to supply the pups! Come on, pull your pants down already and get freaky with her!**

The sheer absurdity of the situation he was in made Naruto question if he really was an idiot for trusting Kyuubi without thinking the demon would have ulterior motives. Still, that didn't stop Naruto from embracing Smellerbee and turning her over onto her back, kissing her deeply and making quick work of removing the last articles of cloth from her body, removing his own while doing so.

Smellerbee whimpered happily for Naruto's treatment of her disrobing, a healthy shade of pink lighting her cheeks and her eyes lidding. Gentle, yet not clumsy and still insistant. It didn't take long before both lovers were panting and sweating from the rush of excitement that came with the idea of making love to eachother, and Smelerbee fidgeted in her position, waiting for Naruto to take her like he had done the night before and claimed her virginity with gentle ease. Slowly, Naruto eased himself inside of Smellerbee's waiting crevis and groaned in repressed pleasure in the feel. She was just as warm and waiting as the night before, and it made him feel all the more enthralled.

Smellerbee was in a similar state of euphoria, the sensations seeming explosive and undeniably thrilling, add to Naruto's form looming above her's made her body quake in excitement, taking in the sight of his physique that could put Jet's to shame and desperately embraced her lover, pressing herself against Naruto to feel his hardness and heat. She nodded for him to continue, and Naruto resumed.

The rest of the day had been spent making love, even into the long hours of the night when sleep had finally taken the two lovers to the land of dreams, Longshot standing gaurd to allow them their privacy, and feeling very proud that his sarogate sister for finding the love she wanted for so long...

* * *

Morning had greeted the inhabitants of the valley with a calming panorama of cascading light, Freedom Fighters and villagers alike, along with the awakening embraced lovers, Naruto and Smellerbee, who lay under the covers of their futon. They both shared a quick kiss and smile and dressed for the day. The villagers had been more than thankful for Naruto's accomplishment in freeing them and demanded they at least have a celebration in his honor for his services, as well as the Freedom Fighters for assisting and helping them to reach safety while the battle had taken place. So, after much debating, the village inhabitants had decided on throwing a feast for everyone in the valley. It was no question there would be many guests. 

As much as Naruto wanted to partake in the festivities, he had to leave while the rains could still cover his trails. He had no idea if there had been any escapies due to the confusion of the assult, but better to not take any chances and allow the Fire Nation to find him. Only the Gods knew what they would do if they discovered what he held in his body, but it was quick to know they wouldn't do any charity services with the demon's power, if they could somehow manage that feat. He wasn't going to be the once deliberate idiot he had been when in Konoha. He was a trained warrior, experienced in killing and ready at a moment's notice. He had begun packing everything he needed for a one month journey, food also for Tenrou, who still lay slumbering outside the tree-hut. He had just finished packing everything of his when Smellerbee entered the room, clad in her blue robe. She caught sight of his pack and immediatly turned solumn, turning her gaze to the floor.

"You're leaving."

It wasn't a question. She knew what was going on and why he couldn't stay. Naruto had told her last night after their love-making, though it was very brief and it didn't seem at the time to be taken seriously, but now she was feeling regret for not considering it to be true, not having herself ready for if or when he would leave. She feeling an emptyness already, like being abandoned once again by the Gods that let the Fire Nation take her home and burned it to the ground. She didn't want to be left alone. Not again. Not after everything they had shared aside from their coupling. He meant too much to her to let him go without at least trying.

Naruto nodded to her statement, strapping the last of his sharpened knives to his belt case and rear pouch. He turned to look at Smellerbee, seeing her tears slide down her cheeks. Closing the distance between them, he embraced her and held her to his chest firmly, but gently, letting his lover quietly sob. He knew she knew, but that didn't mean he would leave her here. She meant to much to him, and he to her. He made his decision.

"Come with me, Smellerbee. Please. I don't want to leave you, but I can't stay here. I'd endanger the people of this valley if I did, with the Fire Nation now after me. I know I'm asking too much, but-"

She kissed him passionatly, silencing him further. Naruto returned it eagerly once his shock had worn away, pulling her tightly against him. Their kiss continued for untold minutes and they seperated, breathing heavily and gazing into eachother's eyes hopefully.

"When do we leave?", Smellerbee asked breathlessly. Naruto smiled happily.

"Today, once I tell the villagers and the Freedom Fighters. Pack your things with what you need, and I'll go to the village now. Get dressed, alright?" Smellerbee nodded eagerly and slipped off her robe, all too eager to have Naruto notice her nudity, to which he did with obvious captivation. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and took off toward the village.

He arrived ten minutes later, noticing the various food stands and tables covered in delicacies of many varieties. All the Freedom Fighters were present, including Jet and Longshot. They had seen him when Naruto drew closer, waving and cheering for his success in accomplishing what the Freedom Fighters yelled they couldn't do alone. Muggs and cups filled with tea and ale were toasted in the air to salute him. Naruto loved the praise they were giving him for his services, but he had to tell them he was leaving.

"While I am tremendously grateful for this celibration and your appreciation for our efforts, I have to inform you all that I need to leave for your safety, because it is without doubt that the Fire Nation will want me excecuted for being part, if not the main reason, for the death of many of their 'prized' soldiers." Many laughed to Naruto's distainful and mocking mention to the Fire Nation's soldier's value, but also gave a cheer in thankfulness for his consideration. "Also, Smellerbee, warrior of the Freedom Fighters has decided to join me in my travels, so I wish you all for you support in our ventures. Good bye!"

More cheers erupted among the crowd and a woman dressed in jade robes ran up to Naruto before he could leave, bowing before she spoke to him. "AkaiKitsune, your services and efforts have been most appreciated, and the people of this humble village of ours requests to reward you for all you have done. Here", she pulled out a small dark brown bag and handed it to Naruto, it's contents making a jingling sound, "This is some gold pieces from the money the Fire Nation soldiers had taken from us. I hope it will be to your liking. Also," she paused as a young boy in brown and gold trimmed clothes came forward with a long wrapped item in his hands, handing outward for Naruto to grasp it, "We give you this as thanks for saving our village and this valley from the Fire Nation's grip on us; The Sword of the Thunder and Lightning Gods. It's name is Kamujin (God/Divine Blade) in the ancient language of civilazations past. It has been here since long before this village's founding, even before the first Earth Nation kingdom. We are entrusting this fine weapon to you, Lord AkaiKitsune. Use it well."

Naruto nodded his thanks, strapping his new weapon to his belt and gave a final wave to everyone before he left to Smellerbee's hut.

When he reached her hut, Tenrou was waiting and ready for departure, his new saddle, compliments of Longshot strewing it together and had a few small bags strapped to the saddle. Smellerbee emerged from the hut, clad in her combat attire as before and gave him a kiss as she strapped the last of the bags to Tenrou's new saddle, pulling herself onto his back and Naruto doing the same in the front. Smellerbee hugged Naruto from behind and whispered to his ear.

"Shall we leave?"

Naruto gave himself a sly smirk, hidden beneath his face bandages he wrapped before slipping on his hetai-ate (head band), leaving only his eyes and lips slightly visible.

"I hope you enjoy flying, because we won't stop for a while. Ready, Tenrou?" The wolf gave a quick bark in confermation, ready for Naruto's approval.

"Alright, let's take off!" No sooner did the winged wolf take to the skies and sliced through the air to the east, Smellerbee giving the slightest of smiles as she felt the wind on her face with her new lover toward their new, unknown destination...

* * *

The next chapter will take a while to come, but it will be worth the wait, so please be patient. READ AND REVIEW, Y'ALL! 


	3. Chapter 3

It's the third chapter that everyone has been waiting for! I must say, this story of mine is coming along better than I had expected, but don't let my suprise detere your interest in this fic. All that crap aside, here's a few things you'll want to know that will come into the story:

1)Naruto won't be getting a harem for himself with practically all the girls from the Avatar series. You'll just have to wait and see what happens. (P.S. Smellerbee isn't ugly at all, just not as good looking as some of the other girls in the series. If you want ugly, you ought to see my brother's girlfriend!)

2)I'm not gonna kill off Smellerbee. I know the intended couple is NaruHina (it's my fic after all!), but Hinata won't come into the story until later, so just be patient.

3)It's not so much that having Naruto learn bending wouln't be a good idea, it just wouldn't fit for what I have in mind for the plot and story progression. You'll see for yourselves soon enough.

4)Yes, Naruto will meet with Aang and the gang, but it's a ways away from here.

**Warning: This chapter has some suggestive and violent content, so if you don't like, don't read. If you do, then... **

I think that covers everything that I wanted to clarify, so on with the fic!

**Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto or it's characters, only the plot, the O.C.'s and the origional Jutsus.**

**Kyuubi Speaking  
_Kyuubi Thinking_**  
Text  
"Words"  
_Thoughts  
_"Jutsus/Techniques"**  
"Spirits talking"**  
(Translations)

* * *

"Did ya hear of this Red Fox guy going 'round these parts?" 

A burly bearded and heavily muscular man gave his drunk friend a hearty laugh after hearing the slurring question asked. He and his drinking buddy were sitting in a brothel tavern, having spent over four hours in the same building after quafing over several flagons of ale and liquor, as well as partaking in the pleasurable company the building provided to anyone with the right kind of money and words. This brothel wasn't a place that condoned any violence or ruff treatment of the staff and employees, and there were plenty of gaurds that kept themselves hidden from plain sight that would easily throw anyone out if a ruckes was started deliberately. He wasn't slow to answer his plastered friend.

"Who hasnt' heard of this guy in the Earth Kingdom? Why, I'll bet by now, Ba Sing Sei has heard of him and will be askin' for his services. It's barely been a month since he first appeared and had handled over a hundred Fire Nation soldiers in the Ravine village not too far from here. A real genius in strategy an' merceless in combat, able to conjure a whole army of doubles of himself and rides on th' back of a great winged beast.

"No one knows what he looks like 'cause no lives long enough t' tell th' tale. I hear he's got a woman with 'im, and a damn deadly one too!" His friend laughed boisterously, having heard the same details that never seemed to lose their effect to make him laugh in disbelief.

News of the Red Fox had spread across the Earth Kingdom like a wild fire shortly after the valley village had been relinquished from Fire Nation control. News had escaped the valley due to one of the Fire Nation soldiers that had been held captive escaping captivity. The soldier had been captured and interogated of course by the Earth Kingdom soldiers that patroled the area for over twelve square kilometers, all land owned by King Bumi of Omashu city. The Fire Nation soldier had been tortured and interogated for over a week until he had proverbialy spilled his guts to the interogators, telling them everything he knew of, including his high ranking position and his survived encounter with the Red Fox. When asked who this person was or what he looked like, the captive screamed in absolute fear and hystarics, screaming over and over "Don't come near me! Don't come near me, you monster! Please spare my soul! I beg you! Stay away!"

All information ragarding what the captive had told the earthbenders was classified as top-secret information involving a highly dangerous individual. The Red Fox hadn't been posted as a wanted fugitive, because he hadn't attacked any soldier or official of the Earth Kingdom, but if a survivor had such a strong reaction from detail questioning, it was safe to assume that this character was deadly and highly dangerous to anyone who attacked him...or vice-verca.

Most of the tasks believed to have been the Red Fox's doings were assassinations of key land lords of rivaling families in the Earth Nation and Fire Nation military and royal representatives. His other assignments involved acting as body gaurd and possession retrieval, such as precious jewels and pricely objects of unmentionable value. The Red Fox had become an object of both loath and fear for the Earth Nation royalty, as well as the whole of Fire Nation with the deaths of many of their most powerful representatives and military members.

However, due to many rumors spreading as a result of the Earth Nation's tight lip of the individual, talk of this mercenary was a favorite pass time activity, leading more speculation and asumptions to arise in place of hidden facts. But that didn't mean to suggest that there are not any facts known of the mysterious figure. One such fact was the sole reason public view of the mercenary was not illfavorable:

The Red Fox refuses to work for any one of the Fire Nation; lord or peasant, general or soldier, firebender or naught.

"That's enough talk of this guy for tonight. Let's just have some fun with some of the eager ladies of this place. Hey, I see a pair of beauties right now open for invitation! Come on, buddy! We're sleeping in warm beds tonight!"

True to the burly man's words, two pretty women with bright silken robes and faces covered in heavy make-up and hurriedly made their way to the pair, unaware of the group of hooded figures in the far back of the room watching their every move with their sharp eyes and gathering every word to their keen ears, their stripped bows and quivers presented with an ominous light...

* * *

**Grip the rocks with your whole hands, not just your fingers. Keep your toes erect and use them only, not your heels. Keep your eyes down and feel for hand holds along the rock, don't try to see for them. Damn it, unless you like washing your eyes our with pounding ice water, keep your eyes DOWN and FEEL for the damn crevices! Kami-sama, you're hopeless.**

Naruto answered his demon's comments with frustrated growls, desperately trying to keep his grip on the slick rocks of the water fall cliff. He was training himself to strengthen his muscles with the torrent of the water fall buffeting against him as he tried to ascend the stone wall, Smellerbee and Tenrou down below simply relaxing in the sun's warmth. He was without his clothes but his black boxers, and his hair was matted down against his head by the tide.

As per the agreement the month before when Smellerbee joined Naruto and Tenrou in their travels, Naruto took to the Kyuubi's training demands and regimines, most involving physical labors while some were more arduous involving chakra expansion and finer control. The physical training involved pushing against water currents and pounding against trees and rocks, training to fight multiple opponents using his Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to spar, and climbing along walls and trees without chakra. Chakra training in expansion was basically forming a thin, precise barrier around Naruto's whole body to prevent either heat or cold to touch him and hold it in place for hours at a time, also assisting him in his control refinement. There was, however, another reason Naruto took to the Kyuubi's arduous training tasks without complaint:

Smellerbee was pregnant with Naruto's child.

It had been the first week in their travels together when they had discovered this, what with Smellerbee's past frequent bouts of vomiting and a delay in her monthly cycle, it had become distinctly obvious. At first, Naruto and Smellerbee became very fearful, having never known their own parents enough to know how to be a parent nor were they informed in parental tasks, as well as being fearful for the child's safety should the two continue to travel, possibly compromising the baby's health if it should be delivered early while possibly away from any settlements for help. Only a day later though, their fears had quelled somewhat and they both had gained a feeling of excitement of being parents soon and undertaking an important responsibility. But with that feeling came a sensation of protectiveness over his mate and child-bearer, and vowed to keep her safe from anything that would dare harm her.

Thanks to Kyuubi, who had been acutely aware of Smellerbee's pregnancy, the demon decided to teach Naruto healing techniques of high ranking skill to keep his mate healthy and comfertable, as well as some Jutsus that Kyuubi had experienced and memerized when he had attacked Konoha. When Naruto had asked how he managed that feat, Kyuubi had told the young shinobi that his eyes had missed nothing and memorized every hand seal for every Jutsu used against him, but he couldn't help the blond with the technique's chakra requirement. As a result, Naruto had learned Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Element: Blade of Wind), Doton: Retsudo Tensho (Earth Element: Earth Splitting Fissure), and Doton: Doro Dango no Jutsu (Earth Element: Art of the Mud Ball). Since these Jutsus could have any varied amount of chakra to be executed, it was a simple task of increasing the amount of chakra to give the attacks greater damaging results, but it was a difficult task to memorize all the hand seals needed to perform the techniques.

Naruto was close to the top of the water fall, his muscles burning with exhaustion and fatigue when the slick stones betrayed their hold and left the blond warrior to fall into the stream down below with a deafening cry of dismay and a huge splash. Tenrou, having grown explosively large in the past month; being over fifteen feet long from tail to nose, six-and-a-half feet from foot to shoulder, and a thirty foot wing span; gave an amused bark to the display, laying to the pebbled ground of the stream's shore while Smellerbee tried to contain her laughter behind her hand, her clothes absent but her under garments to preserve her modesty and bathed in the sun light with a towel laid flat to keep her back from getting rock impressions. They didnt' have to wait long for Naruto to resurface the water, walking to one of his packs with towels and started grumbling to himself...again.

"Damn it, I was so close to the top this time. Screw 'no chakra', I'm getting to the top of that cliff if it's the last thing I do." Smellerbee gave a quiet giggle, but Naruto had heard her clearly and mock-glared at her for the tease. Smellerbee only blew him a kiss and ignored him...or rather, ignored what she heard, and paid special attention to his gleaming soaked body. The Kyuubi's physical training had made Naruto's muscles develope increadibly well, forming taught, whip-cord muscles across his whole body. Naruto was quick to notice Smellerbee's hungery gaze and hastenly dressed himself, earning a disappointed groan from the shaggy-haired girl. Smellerbee was no older than he was and yet the girl had the sex-drive of mature woman in her prime. But then again, he couldn't plead any contest, what with being just as...active as his lover. Naruto turned his sights to the sky where the sun loomed directly above.

"We'll need to leave for the nearest town now while there's still sunlight. Smellerbee, can you get the things together and put it on Tenrou's saddle?" Smellerbee nodded and dressed quickly, folded everything foldable and fastened every bag she could to Tenrou's saddle while Naruto packed together all the food and cooking supplies. Naruto pulled himself up the saddle first to pull Smellerbee up on the saddle behind him, the girl wrapping her arms around the blonde's middle.

"Ready for flight?" Naruto asked. Smellerbee and Tenrou nodded. "Alright, let's take off, Tenrou!"

Taking his master's command, the winged wolf flapped his mighty wings with a powerful _fwoom_ and were airborn in an instant. The wind whipped past them like a zephyr and ruffled their clothes and hair as the earth seemed to be pulled from under them with blinding speed as their winged beast effortlessly cut through the air.

Their flight continued for over a half hour when Tenrou was directed downward to a clearing where a rural village lied, the majority of the huts made from cut timber and dried mud and mixed grass with few buildings of pure stone, suggesting there were few earthbenders in the small village. The tall pines served as excellent cover for rural settlement. The roads were treaded by wear and completely bare of grass, only loose dirt. The population of the village was moderate for it's size and had plentiful food with many crops raised behind people's huts. Only a single building was made of solid oak wood: The village's inn for travelers.

Naruto and Smellerbee had quickly made reservations for one of the inn's rooms, having to keep Tenrou in the forest to keep him safe from hunters and allow him to hunt for game without rousing unwanted attention, and were given their quarters. They made it to their room quickly in silence and opened the door. The room was spartan, only a single kitchen, restroom, and a large bed with fine cotton sheets. The walls and floors were hard due to frequent traversing with varying rugs and carpets to keep one's feet from blistering from the hard surface. Only two windows allowed light to seep through to the room. Naruto threw his packs onto the bed and slipped his cloak off to get more comfertable, Smellerbee following suite with removing her armor and dropping her bags onto the floor. Naruto began unrapping his head bandages just as Smellerbee had removed her shoulder guards, placing himself heavily onto the matress beside Smellerbee who wrapped her arms around her lover from behind. A comfortable silence issued with Smellerbee listening to Naruto's heart beat through his back, feeling comfort in the soothing vibrations of his heart.

"...Smellerbee? Can I talk to you about something?" Naruto's voice sounded uncertain, fearful almost. Unknowingly, Smellerbee began shaking fearfully from the prospect of questioning their one overall concern: Their child.

"What is it, Naruto?" She tried with success to keeping her voice level to not betray her nervousness.

"It's about...well, our child. And you. Your health and safety to be precise. With you being pregnant and possibly hindered because of it...I'm not asking you to leave or to stay in hiding right now...but if there should come a time when we are attacked by possible enemies from the Fire Nation, I may not be able to protect you...so I want you to promise me that you'll take refuge in Ba Sing Sei until the baby is delivered, only if we are attacked. That way you can stay safe and not compromise your health or the baby's...Promise me...Please."

Naruto didn't have to face Smellerbee to know she was crying, what with her closeness allowing him to feel her trembles and the moisture acumulating on the back of his clothes. As gently as he could, he removed Smellerbee's hands to twist himself around and hugged his sobbing lover close to his chest, Smellerbee's arms desperately tightening around his middle as she cried. She would rather fight a whole army of firebenders bare-handed than to be seperated from the one person that gave her so much: Warmth, understanding, comfort, support, strength, resolve...love...a child.

But ultimately, she knew he was right regarding her safety and health, as well as the baby's. She didn't want to abandon it or have an abortion; Her child-to-be was too important to her, and it was something concieved through their intimacy. It was her treasure -_Their_ treasure-, and she would rather die than to abandon it.

But she didn't want to leave Naruto either. He meant too much to her just to walk away from. No, she wouldn't go into hiding...but if they were attacked and Naruto couldn't protect her from his enemies...then she would go to Ba Sing Sei and wait until the baby was delivered. And nothing would ever seperate them again.

"...Alright...I..I promise." Her answer was hardly noticable, but Naruto had heard her clearly and embraced her strongly to soothe her.

Through the feeling of comfort the ex-Freedom Fighter felt in her beloved's embrace, the feel of Naruto's warmth and hard muscles stirred her excitement to it's peek, his scent making her feel deliciously warm also. Shying away from Naruto's chest and gazing deep into his azure eyes, she passionatly kissed him with a heated intensity, Naruto eagerly returning the favor with interest.

Throughout their lip exchange, both parties expertly removed each other's clothes and leaving them bare as new borns, Naruto leaning above a panting Smellerbee by his arms. Naruto's breath was heavy as he tried to steady his heartbeat from his rushing excitement, but it was hopeless to try as his eyes raked over Smellerbee's flushed form almost reverently. He kissed and suckled at her throat, making his lover shudder happily and continued downward; kissing and licking her breasts, licking circles around her navel, and between her thighs to her nether lips, placing her thighs over his shoulder and inhaling the aphrodisiac scent that made his blood boil with need. Naruto took Smellerbee's pants and squirms as a signal to continue, and ravaged her sex with gusto, his hair being fisted by Smellerbee's steely fingers and hearing her moans and cries reverberate through him.

Feeling his lover tremble and her cries becoming louder by the second told the shinobi that Smellerbee was close to climaxing and stopped abruptly, pulling himself up to face her and kissed her deeply, Smellerbee all too eager to return the kiss and spread her thighs apart to allow her blond lover to enter her, nodding her consent. Naruto pushed his length inside of her as gently as he could, gasping as the thousands of sensations assalted his senses from the feel and the warmth, forcing his breathing to labor with Smellerbee's. In no time, both parties moved in sync with each other to reach that heavenly peak they had experienced only a handful of times. Smellerbee was literally ripping Naruto's skin off of him, leaving deep scratches in his back, arms, chest, and belly with her steely fingers and bite marks on his shoulders and neck, while Naruto was far more gentle in his touches; gliding his hands across her thighs, posterior, belly, breasts, and back, leaving only the faintest of hickies and bite marks around her neck and breasts.

They were almost nearing their end when finally they climaxed together with cry of passion after untold minutes of love making, their bodies exhausted and their lungs starved for oxygen, Smellerbee's body instinctively milking Naruto of his seed to fill her fertile womb. Naruto collapsed beside Smellerbee as to not harm her and pulled the blankets over them both, pulling Smellerbee close to his chest and sighing softly from feeling completion brought by their intimacy. A few minutes passed unnoticed while Naruto regained his breath. Smellerbee's rythmic breathing told Naruto that his lover was now asleep. He chuckled softly and whispered silently in her ear:

"I love you, Smellerbee. And not even the gods themselves will tear you away from me." Naruto hadn't given his lover an oppertunity to respond before he succumbed to sleep and joined Smellerbee in the land of dreams, unaware of his lover still awake and smiling brightly with tears of gratitude streaming down her cheeks. She snuggled closer to her beloved, savoring the warmth that his body provided.

"I love you too, Naruto. I won't ever leave you..."

The rest of the day passed as the two lovers slept in each other's embrace as the sun made it's decent...

* * *

Within a room of unknown size, due to the darkness that shrouded it like a veil, a single man sat next to a black polished wood table low to the floor, bare but only a single lit candle that illuminated the man's features. 

His eyes were deep and peircing, a gaze that commanded without question, his long black hair tied in a top-knot with the rest cascading down his back. He was in his early thirties, a long trimmed beard that merged with his hair-line across his cheeks and mustache. He wore Fire Nation robes and armor of a noble class: Red and rust brown layered plate armor over grey robes. He flicked his wrists to someone in the shadows and a low audible rustling could be heard.

Like demons summoned by sorcery through forbidden magic, over a dozen male warriors emerged from the darkness away from the candle light's reach, all bowed to their master and summoner. The Yu Yan Archers.

Assassins of peerless skill and born from a clan of killers, they could pin a fly to a tree over a hundred meters away without killing it, their precision unmatched. Each looked like the other's twin, indistinguishable with their clothes and physical appearence. All wore a dark bandana on their respected foreheads with a single red triangle in the center, their black hair tied in a top-knot fashion. Their skin was dark, dusty brown, with eyes as peircing as their masters and sharp features with red paint fashioned over their eyes like a tribal mask. They were slim, but solid and trained for combat. They wore brown, black hemmed thin vests over grey robes with black leather arm gaurds, their forefingers wrapped to prevent blistering. Their shins and feet were bound tightly with wrappings, and their bows and quivers were matted with stripe designs and marks. Their master studied them all, his eyes passing over each one to assess their worth, like a man buying the best horse in a stable.

"It does me great pleasure to see you all once again, my loyal assassins." His voice was cold, but smooth and deep with the evidence of age-old knowledge guiding his words that conceiled more than they revealed. "Lord Ozai has sent me word of great praise of your services in his regard, protecting his castle with zealful loyalty and striking down all the trash that dared to approuch his Lord's castle. For such, you shall be justly rewarded and comended for when we return to the Fire Nation.

"But that is such for another time. I have called you all here for an important mission that Lord Ozai has personaly asked of me to direct to you all. As I'm sure you're all aware from the rumors and gossip that has spread across the Earth Nation, the Red Fox, as he calls himself, is becoming a great threat to the Fire Nation royalty, as well as our military with all the many requests to kill our fine soldiers by anonimous employers that refuse to divulge any information of the Red Fox's identity." He suddenly gave a bitter laugh, "Under different circumstances, I'd applaud the earth people's intelligence so as to not attract the Fire Nation's attention, but I curse them all the same with our search being hindered because of lack of information.

"Never the less, I have managed to arange an appointment with this mercenary to discuss hiring him to 'handle' a military general under King Bumi's command. This is your mission: Kill the Red Fox once he has ridden of the general, burn the castle to ash, and leave not a trace of your involvment. He will be here shortly, so I want you to go to the castle and wait until he has finished his assignment, then kill him with your arrows. I'll need to dress in those loathsome Earth Nation robes so not to seem suspicious to him, as he has earlier proven to refrain from working for those of Fire Nation heritage. Go now, and keep your aim true. Dismissed!"

The Yu Yan Archers inclined their heads in accordence and faded away into the darkness like shadows, unheard and unnoticed until their presence had vanished from trace...

* * *

It was dark outside when Naruto had awoken. Smellerbee was still sleeping soundly, her rythmic breathing soft and easy. Naruto had to dress and make it to his appointment with his newest employer to get his assignment and pay. With great reluctence, he slowly edged himself away from Smellerbee and stepped out of the bed, grasping his clothes and dressed quickly, wrapping his face in bandages and his hetai-ate fastened over his hair, leaving only his eyes discernably uncovered. Sheathing his throwing knives into his holsters and rear pouch, he tied his cloak firmly around his neck and shoulders, wincing slightly from the sting of Smellerbee's scratches and bites. _I should remember to use those healing Jutsus on myself after our sessions. Those feel deep._

Naruto caught sight of the Kamujin (God blade), still wrapped in it's confining wrappings, debating whether or not to bring it with him. He hadn't yet touched or practiced with it, let alone see it in detail, with having to train himself in Kyuubi's instructions, which none of them involved using a sword. Dispite knowing full well that a sword would be no better than a club in his hands, an undeniable urge to carry it with him had pervaded him to take it and fasten to his back.

Within moments Naruto was leaping from tree to tree with the grace to match -or excell- the most experienced hunting beasts, passing other miriads of animals without raising the slightest bit of attention. The moon provided more than sufficient light to reveal the worn path to the neighboring village where he was to meet his new employer. He didn't want to bring Tenrou because he thought his friend could use a break from acting as a charriot and steed for his traveling leizure.

Small, solid stone huts of golden color with green thatch-tiled roofs were spread across a clearing divoid of vegitation, the pines towering over the small settlements for cover, and the rode matted with tracks of ostrich-horses, foot prints, and komodo-rhino-

Naruto's eyes widened in suprise from seeing those tracks while in mid-jump, almost stumbling when he had landed on the ground. He gave a closer inspection of the deep claw grooves and the hand-like shapes. It was diffinetly a komodo-rhino's tracks, and it was fresh. Too fresh for Naruto's liking. Only a day or less old, and they lead all the way to the forest without stop with Fire Nation boot imprints. There was something amiss here. _Why hadn't the Fire Nation soldiers attacked and pilaged this place?_ he thought, _No blood, no sign of any kind of struggle...It's like they were escourted through here. Unless...this place is a Fire Nation encampment in disguise! _

Naruto knew already that he was in dangerous territory at the moment, but if he left and someone was watching him at that moment, then they would follow him and could take Smellerbee hostage. He had to play along until he was in safer territory and hope that no one could back-track from the direction he came from and attack Smellerbee. _Just play along and act like you know nothing of this place, just act like you're in a business meeting and don't seem too nice, or else they'll suspect something. I have to be cautious, but keep them thinking I know nothing of them_.

Taking his step toward the larger of the huts, he pushed aside the flap in the opening and saw only a single man sitting cross-legged beside a black oak table with a single lit candle on the surface of it. The man was in his early thirties perhaps, a long beard and length of black hair tied in a top-knot fashion with peircing eyes and hard features. He wore a green tunic with slack sleeves and hemmed in gold thread. He was sipping a cup of tea when he turned to Naruto with a scrutinizing expresion, seeming displeased about something or other Naruto knew not of. The man motioned for Naruto to take a seat opposite to the table, Naruto keeping his impassive look. Once he had taken his seat, the man placed aside his tea cup and remained motionless, his eyes closed in concentration.

Naruto didn't know how many minutes passed before the man so much as twitched, but his fear returned with renewed force as he thought dispairingly that he could be just stalling him while what ever soldiers under his command would track to the inn where Smellerbee was resting.

"Good", said the man, startling Naruto slightly from the silence, "You have a great grasp of patience. No doubt the result of your experience with hunting your prey I assume? Never the less, I have requested your services for something exceedingly important to my business. I handle metal works for making various weapons throughout the Earth Kingdom and my business is in perill with competition from a neighboring merchant who selling...certain items that is leaving my trade slipping from my very fingers. I'm hiring you to kill him and burn his business documents to dust."

"I cannot firebend, incase you haven't heard from the rumors that I refuse to work for anyone of Fire Nation blood. In such circumstances, it would be safe to assume that I am not of the Fire Nation in this regard."

"Ah, but you forget a certain detail that escapes you: Traitors, treasoners, and criminals of the Fire Nation would do just as you would to escape possible identification and capture. Besides, I never said to burn the documents with bending. Surely anyone could burn down a castle without the use of firebending, couldn't they? Forgive my change in question, but may I inquire as to how old you are, Red Fox?"

Naruto was quick to answer him, but not directly. "I'm old enough to know the importances of life and death and the balance they share in regards with my occupation, but I suppose that answer wouldn't fit for your question. I apologize if you find offence, but I won't divulge anything that could endanger you. The Fire Nation is actually trying to kill me, for obvious reasons, and they wouldn't hesitate to interrogate anyone with information by torture, so I'll say now, I won't reviel anything irrelivant to my hire. What do wish of me?"

_Besides your head on a spear? Nothing at all._ Those were the man's thoughts that danced through his mind, having been thwarted of getting any information from the mercenary, but gave the warrior a wry smile and chuckle to Naruto's answer. "Too true do your words posess wisdom and reason of rationality beyond your years. Anyway, perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Heidan Yu Yan. Now then, here's the details involving your hire..."

As Heidan gave him the details for his mission, Naruto knew this night was going to end with blood, one way or another...

* * *

The silent assassins were unheard, unseen, and their progress through the forest was frighteningly quick. Within moments, their village destination was seen in the moonlight, as they veared closer and closer, their peircing eyes locked on the towering inn with only a single window splaying lanturn light with their bows and arrows held at ready. There were five archers in all, more than sufficient to handle their prey. Word from one of the trackers that followed the trail of the Red Fox, this inn was where his accomplice was resting. Though their aim was great, they couldn't strike anything they couldn't see through solid wood. They advanced forward. 

With agile grace, they scaled the inn's wall up to the lit window, peering over the window ledge with their sharp eyes. A matt of brown, disheveled hair poked out from the comforters with the rise and fall of the person's breathing. Quietly, one of the archers pulled out an arrow from it's quiver and hooked it with the bow string, pulling back the projectile and aiming for the kill. His look-alike brothers beside him did as he. The candle light flickered with the brushing breeze that passed through the room.

By unspoken command, the Yu Yan archers released their arrows, the projectiles striking their target with such force it pushed the figure out of the bed with a solid _thump_.

The Yu Yan archers narrowed their eyes in suspicion, then to distaste when realising they had only struck a log stump that had a mop fastened to it to impersonate hair. Again they drew arrows to their bows, looking left and right throughout the room, looking for any sign of their prey. Silence and stillness rewarded their efforts. Until-

"Too noisy."

The archer by the window didn't have a chance to sound a warning before Smellerbee's kukrie knife plunged deep into the assassin's temple, the assailant soundlessly crumpling to the ground with Smellerbee's handling from behind. Dressed in a completely black outfit with her head covered and her eyes exposed, she hugged against the walls in case any of the other assassins had heard her. None came and were still looking through the room. One was slowly approuching her now, unaware of her presence in in the shadows thanks to her garb. When he passed Smellerbee still looking toward the window, questioning if their prey had escaped through there, suddenly his throat was cut clean through with Smellerbee's trusty knife. Unfortunately, she hadn't managed to catch his lifeless body before he fell with an audible _thoom._

The sound instantly alerted the others and they rushed to the window where they caught sight of Smellerbee just as she had jumped through the window to the outside. They followed without stop or pause, arming their arrows and releasing them at blinking speed-volleys to their prey. Smellerbee pivoted her body with acrobatic flexablity and dodged most of the arrows, though two snagged to her shoulder plates when she landed to the dirt. The Yu Yan archers landed close to her, their arrows drawn ready for striking. They released their projectiles once more and missed by only a hair's breadth when the ex-Freedom Fighter pivoted herself to evade them. She visibly winced and recoiled from pain after feeling an arrow peirce her shoulder, her hand instinctively grasping her bleeding wound. When the Yu Yan archers readied their arrows once more, a playful smirk grace her lips hidden by the black hood.

"If I were you three," she said casually, "I'd take better care of watching my surroundings in the future...but then again, you don't have a future anymore."

Perplexed by her casual comment in spite of her illfavorable position, they were too focused on their target's comment to notice the towering winged wolf that loomed above them with his fangs bared and ready to kill until the Yu Yan archers saw the shadow casted by the moonlight that covered them. Too late were they able to see Tenrou before they were already dead; the two beside the center archer were crushed by Tenrou's massive paws and the center archer killed by his crushing jaws, ripping the assailant into peices. Smellerbee gave the wolf a thankful nod and pulled the arrow out of her shoulder, stiffling her scream of pain with an audible groan. Tossing the projectile away, she hastely clambered onto Tenrou's saddle and gripped his neck for flight.

"Tenrou, we need to follow Naruto! He could be in danger right now! Can you track him?"

The winged wolf gave his master's lover a quick nod and took to the skies toward the neighboring settlements, his wings flapping with desperate vigore. Smellerbee looked to the distance with half-focused eyes, worry gripping her like a vice.

_Naruto...Please be safe..._

* * *

It had been hours prior to when Heidan had told Naruto the procedings for his task, and it was almost convincing how the Yu Yan had coerced the young shinobi into taking the assignment without the unspoken threat of the arrow. When Naruto had arrived at the castle, he had first slipped through the lower level windows that lead to the celler which held imprisoned slaves with disheveledl clothes in both genders and varying ages, from old to infants, and valuables of questionable value. Naruto had first released the slaves and told them to take anything they could and leave when he gave them the signal it was clear. Killing the gaurds that passed through the hallways was the simple task in comparison to leading the people safely outside with his Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) as a guide. The targeted merchant was asleep in his private quarters, his room decorated with some of the finest silks and furniture that Naruto had ever seen with a plethora of esquisite drapes. The merchant didn't even manage a scream before Naruto slit his throat with his kunai and took the head off and stuffed it into a grey bag. Any one who imprisoned people as slaves didn't deserve life. 

After successfully slipping past the remaining gaurds, everything had gone down hill. The cries of the dying gaurds were the warning calls that told the Red Fox that Heidan's assailants were inside and looking to kill him next. The first one he had seen was at a close distance and allowed him to assess his appearance, but that had become irrelavent after he had released a swarm of arrows at the blond, having managed to avoide them with a Kawamari no Jutsu (Art of Replacement) and killed his assailant by throwing his kunai through the archer's throat. As though they sensed his kill, more look-alikes appeared from the shadows and released their volley of arrows to strike him. They had pursued him for over an hour.

Naruto kept deathly silent as he clinged to the ceiling of the hallway, keeping his chakra steadily flowing to keep him against the solid wood as long as possible. One of the archers passed beneath the young shinobi and Naruto took his chance, dropping to the floor and plunging his kunai into the man's neck, killing him instantly. Another came around the corner of the intersecting hallways and reached for another arrow when suddenly his back was stabbed through with a curved knife that Naruto was quick to recognize. It was Smellerbee.

The said ex-Freedom Fighter stepped over the dead archer and rushed to her lover, pulling down her hood and kissing Naruto Naruto passionately with her arms around his neck. Temporarely stunned from her kiss, he seperated himself from her reluctantly remembering he and she were in dangerous territory. Smellerbee gave Naruto a sly smirk and pointed to three other dead archers. Naruto gave her a greatful smile and turned to leave the hallway when suddenly another Yu Yan archer dropped from the ceiling with his bow drawn with an arrow ready. He was too late.

With cruel proficiency, the arrow peirced Smellerbee's shoulder through the point where the humerus joined the arm socket. Smellerbee cried out in pain and fell to the floor on her knees, unable to steady herself with now both her arms unusable.

Naruto had seen everything as though in slow motion, and he couldn't stop a thing from happening. Agape in silent horror, his fear had instantaniously changed to unbridaled rage and hate. More archers dropped from the ceiling and jumped from the shadows like nightmares and had their arrows drawn and ready for the kill while Naruto pulled Smellerbee upright as gently as he could dispite his fury. As soon as he nestled the unconscious Smellerbee against the wall, he did nothing to stop his killing intent from coursing through him like a raging storm through his veins, allowing his fury to take full control. The archers noticed his strange behavior and paused in releasing their projectiles, feeling a strange heavyness in the air around them that soon made their bones quake in absolute terror as they gazed at their prey's glowing red eyes and bleeding face bandages, his face contorted in a feral snarl.

In their panic they released their volleys, aiming to kill the monster that made them tremble in fear. What they didn't know was that they were already dead.

"UUUURRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!" With a feirce, beastly roar, crimson chakra exploded from Naruto's body and twisted around him with violent force like a tornado, batting away the arrows effortlessly and ripping the stone walls and floors apart like dust. Smellerbee remained completely untouched as Naruto unleashed Kyuubi's chakra to kill his enemies. The Yu Yan archers quickly saw that they were outclassed and made a hasty retreat. Or rather, they had tried to. With blinding speed, Naruto unsheathed the Kamujin from it's wrapped confinements and slashed furiously at the assassins, effortlessly cutting them apart, dissappearing and reappearing in front and behind his assailents and cutting them to peices with masterful skill.

The castle was quaking voilently now, the walls crumbling to rubble by the second. Over a dozen Yu Yan archers lay dead while only a bare few that managed to escape the carnage. The Kyuubi's chakra shaped, formed into the Kyuubi's head that loomed above the young shinobi like a gaurdian sentry and bellowed a quaking roar that forced the castle to crumble even more rapidly and whipped against the walls with tails of red chakra that formed at Naruto's lower back. Sheathing his newly bloodied weapon, Naruto took Smellerbee gently into his arms and calmly walked through the destruction as the castle finaly fell beneath the onslaught of Kyuubi's power, crumpling to the ground into rumble and dust.

An untold amount of time passed before Naruto emerged from the rubble with Smellerbee still sleeping in his arms, his bandages ripped to reveale his deepened scares, crimson eyes, and elongated fangs that protruded from his lips like a feral beast. But stranger still, the Kyuubi's chakra had receaded from the blonde's body moments ago. His cloak was also ripped, allowing his now crimson red jumpsuit to veer into view. His eyes were hard, vicious, and blood-thirsty for killing the man responsible for what had been done. All remorse, kindness, and good in his heart felt like it had died with his humanity he traded for the power from his inner demon. He knew only cruelty at that moment...and it would drive his hands to strangle the bastard that dared to try to kill his mate.

Tenrou stood by the trees, a solumn expression marring his features when he caught sight of the unconscious Smellerbee in Naruto's arms. Without a given command, Tenrou knelt to allow Naruto onto the saddle without harming Smellerbee, recieving a greatful nod from the demonic Genin. Tenrou took to the skies with his master and his master's lover on his back, howling in grief for the loss of his master's kindness he had sensed lossed. Dark clouds obscured the moon behind a veil of darkness...

* * *

Naruto released a heavy breath as he lowered Smellerbee onto the bed of their rented room. His beastly extremeties hadn't receaded and seemed to remain perminant, as though they were completely part of him. He didn't pay it any notice, however. His focus was completely on his sleeping lover, healed of her injuries thanks to his healing Jutsus. His anger had quieted while in Tenrou brought him to the inn, but that didn't stop Naruto from conjuring several Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to handle Heidan. Only moments ago he felt the awarness of his Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) dispersing and telling him they had killed him in his sleep, but It had done nothing to eleviate Naruto's bitterness and sorrow. Smellerbee would be in continuous danger if she were in his company until she delivered the child, and that was what made Naruto the most depressed aside from being what the Konoha villagers had always called him: 

He was a monster, and his child was now the child of a monster.

Tears of self-shame poured down his cheeks, soaking into his facial bandages. He didn't try to stop them, hoping to feel a little reliefe from it, but it only made his pain increase ten-fold as his tears continued to spill. When he had seen Smellerbee struck by the assailent's arrow, he would have traded his soul to exact his revenge on the assassin, but now he would have given anything he had to regain his humanity.

But he couldn't. That wasnt' an option anymore. There were no half-deals. He traded his human-self for the power to exact his vengence and protect his mate. If it meant he had to become a monster to protect her, and she refused to be with him because of it, he would accept that. He just wished he could have done something more to help her.

Gentle, loving arms encircled his waist from behind him, startling him from his withdrawn state of mind but settled himself when realising it was Smellerbee. His mate hugged him gently, rocking him back and forth to soothe his troubled mind with her head resting on his back. She rubbed his chest to calm him, and peace welled within Naruto once more.

"Smellerbee..." His voice sounded so gutteral, vicious and deep, and he internaly cursed it for sounding so awful for his mate to hear. But she didn't recoil or pull away. She just stayed where she was.

"It's alright, Naruto. You can tell me. I want to know what happened. I...I want to hear of your past, so don't think I'll hate you for it. Please...tell me."

Her voice was without anything of negative intent, but it was very remorseful that sent stabbing pains into Naruto's heart. She was still so understanding, he felt as though he didn't have the privilage of even speaking her name. But he did, and told her everything.

Naruto told Smellerbee everything from his past, including when he was nothing but a trouble-causing brat to gain attention when he was shunned. The incident of the Forbidden Scroll's stealing, the revelation of his demon, his failures, his accomplishments, his past infatuation with Sakura, his obsession with trying to beat Sasuke, even about the Kyuubi himself and how it came to be sealed inside of him with Kyuubi filling in the blanks when Naruto couldn't. He even told her what had transpired hours ago with his employer that had staged the whole attempt on their lives. He left nothing a secret after telling Smellerbee everything he knew, and it had all taken a hour to finish.

Naruto felt worse than ever before when Smellerbee remained silent. He was a pathetic excuse for a shinobi, so what made him think he could ever make a decent mercenary? He was a failure, and what little accomplishments he achieved before made little difference to him regarding Smellerbee's opinion. And the worst part left him feeling bitter about himself and his weakness and dependency on Kyuubi:

He traded his humanity for power. He became no better than Sasuke.

Naruto felt a hand rest on his cheek, pulling away his bandages to reveal his deepened whisker scars and protruding canine fangs. He turned veered to Smellerbee and gazed deep into her eyes with his blood-colored ones, almost begging for a response from her. A spark of hope swelled within him when he saw her smile at him, and his dispair wisped away as she kissed him, though it was only a peck. Her voice was still as soft as ever.

"...Naruto...I could never hate you for what you are. You have been wonderful to me and accepted me for everything I am dispite my flaws, so how could I condemn you for anything you had no control over? You traded something precious to you for my safety, and I'm grateful beyond words for what you had done. And don't think yourself a monster. Regardless of what you may be, I love you all the same, and nothing will ever change that. Do you love me?"

Suprised by her last question, he faltered slightly before he answered. "Of course I do...but don't you hate me for what I am? Our child-"

"-Is our treasure!" Smellerbee interjected, "I love our child, and I have no regrets for what we shared. This child isn't 'the child of a monster'. This is the child of a great warrior that would have foresaken his very life for the safety and happiness for his family. And nothing can say otherwise, and I won't have you hate yourself for something like this.

"Monster, beast, man, or angel, I love you either way...and nothing will change that."

Touched by her honesty, Naruto embraced Smellerbee with desperation fueled by his gratitude to his lover. Word seemed not enough to express his happiness of her acceptance of him, and he treasured it dearly. Smellerbee hugged him in turn and whispered soothing words to quiet him down, slowly leading him to their bed. As soon as they nestled down on the matress, Naruto pulled himself away and gave her a sweet kiss for his appreciation for all she had for him. For so long, he could only dream that someone precious to him would say those words to him, and that dream had finally become a reality. And this was their last night together, as Smellerbee had promised if ever they were attacked by enemies and Naruto couldn't protect her completely. That meant she had to take refuge in Ba Sing Sei until the baby came, which was in eight more months. But they would treasure it until they met again.

They made love that night, and continued until the sun was close to rising. They were not driven by lust, but by heartfelt need and want. They were gentle, and no tears were shed, and Naruto savored their final intimate session together, knowing bitterly it would probably be the last.

The next morning, Naruto wasn't suprised to find Smellerbee gone and a note that read "Good bye for now, -Smellerbee", but his tears offered no solace for his lover's absence...

* * *

Ten men wide and five deep, the Yu Yan archers remained bowed to the man in the shadows on the throne of a great platform, their location unknown due to the absence of windows with few torches lit to illuminate the square room of tiled stones. The man remained in silhouette, but his gaze was felt like an hot-iron rod through the backs of all the assassin archers. Over twenty had been sent to Heidan's services, and none of them had returned, which severely discredited the living elite archers of the Yu Yan clan.

The Yu Yan clan was formed by huntsman over two hundred years ago when a faction of tribesman had rebelled against an opressive Earth Nation king that plundered many lands to sate his bottomless greed for possessions and land ownership. They had grown into the hunters of legend and were trained to be the best assassins under the services of the Fire Nation for over a century after toppling the Earth Nation's oppressive king and his family. They were without peer or equal. And they had failed to kill a single mercenary and accomplice.

Shame was all they were given as gifts from their dead kin.

The man on the throne snapped his fingers to signal for someone to come, echoing through the silent coridore. Like a phantom, three figures hidden in shadow from the light that couldn't reach them appeared beside their master. Two were of similar height, the other slightly shorter, with varying shapes of shapes of clothes and musculature. They waited for their master's command.

"Find the Red Fox. Kill him if you must, but try to enlist him with us if you can. We shouldn't allow talent like his to be wasted on trash such as the Earth Nation. Let Heidan be a reminder of underestimating possible allies. Go."

Taking their command, the three figures vanished into the shadows to search for their prey...


	4. Chapter 4

It's the forth chapter y'all have been anxious to read! I know it's been a long time since my last update, but I've been preoccupied with trying to start my other stories and continuing my other story Unleashing the Beast. That and this might be my last update for another long wait since my computor tower died one me (Sono'va BITCH!!) I'm not going to get into any deep details, but I'll just leave an apology here and hope you aren't discouraged from continuing to read my fanfics. It might be a while before I can get my computer fixed. Sorry.

On with the fic!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Naruto, not Avatar: The Last Airbender, not their characters...and it freakin' SUCKS!!**

**Kyuubi speaking**  
_**Kyuubi thinking**_  
Text  
"Words"_  
Thoughts_  
"Jutsus/Techniques"  
**"Spirits speaking"**  
(Translations)

* * *

Two figures stood together in the tree-tops a great distance away from their former home, with a seemingly endless expanse of forest separating them from the borders of their village. Black smoke rose from the ruined buildings, rising into the heavens without guilt or care from where it originated. The cries of the captured villagers and the defiant yells of the warriors echoed throughout the valley like the sounds of the damned and condemned from the pits of hell. The streets were paved with blood and mangled, twisted corpses littered the ground. 

When the enemy shinobi began the attack on their village, that was a battle.

But when that monster came rampaging through the village walls, the battle turned into a slaughter ground. The monster came through the walls before any of the village's patrolling shinobi sighted the beast, and by then it was already too late. Swinging its massive arms and tail in huge circles, its sent dozens to their deaths from the first attack alone, with the ease of swatting flies.

Of course, that was most likely an exaggeration on the dead shinobi's behalves.

Even now the monstrosity marched around the enormous village, taking in the resulting sight of its triumph. A huge, bulky body of sand-gold clay with swirls of blue veins curled around its body and pulsed unnaturally. Its long, club-like scaled tail swished like a giant snake, toppling buildings down like blocks of dust. Thick arms of some earth material, giant claws that scored the ground and left gaping trenches like scars in the Earth. Its head was stout by comparison with its bulbous body with a short snout of long pointed teeth and black-rimmed golden, star-shaped eyes. With every twitch of its body, sand would swirl and envelope the nearest victim, crushing them to bloody pulp.

What was even more terrifying about the creature was its crazed voice. Shrill like an old man's and yet giddy for death like an insane child. Even now it was shrieking madly about all the death it had savored during its rampage.

Even more disheartening was the fact that their Hokage died, killed by the hands of Orochimaru, the Snake Sennin. After Sarutobi was brought down, morale within the shinobi ranks crumbled like dust and were overwhelmed within only an hour. Few shinobi managed to escape from Orochimaru's Otonin (Sound Nin) and the monster that gleefully shouted its name "Shuukakuu" to the winds as if it wanted the heavens themselves to tremble at its name. Their village was lost, and there was no hope to reclaim it.

But there was still a chance to prevent it from ever happening. It was a small chance, a single gambit, but they were willing to take that risk to save their home from ever being destroyed. And that hope was contained within the item they had miraculously managed to pilfer from the Hokage's vault:

The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing.

The two remaining survivors of Konoha gave a final glance back to their ruined home before they both leaped toward the deeper, more secluded areas of the forest to initiate the spell that would aid them most. 'Fore within the Forbidden Scroll lay the single means to preventing the tide of the battle from every occurring: A time-travel spell.

It hadn't been anything near an easy feat of claiming the scroll. In fact, among the few Konoha shinobi that survived the final attacks had been planning for over three days strait with little rest to evade notice of the Otonin that scoured the village almost constantly, among them Matarashi Anko, Hatake Kakashi, Kotestu, Maito Gai, Shikamaru, and Genma, the Chuunin Exam Tournament referee, and all had already died in the effort to claim the scroll. The rest of the First Year Genins died during the initial attack. They couldn't let their sacrifice be in vain.

Like arrows borne aloft on the wind, the two surviving shinobi leaped through the thickness of the forest with such speed that the very Earth seemed to be pulled from under them as they drew deeper into the recesses of the foreboding forest. Moonlight bled through the thick canopy of the crowding trees, reflecting dull pale light of the foliage like glittering speckles of glass. A worn pathway snaked between the trees, like a trailing scar long since healed but ever-present, leading into a grove where the two shinobi would enact their ritual.

The larger of the two shinobi, a young man wearing a grey hooded sweater with black fleece cuffs and hood rim and black trousers glanced behind himself when his nose caught the scent of an approaching human. His sharp eyes narrowed and he growled, revealing pointed canine teeth.

He turned back to his companion. "We have to hurry Hinata! We're being trailed even as we speak and their coming up on us fast! Pick up the pace!!"

The young girl nearing womanhood glanced back to her companion with her pale eyes and nodded uncertainly, adjusting her grip on the scroll in her grasp beneath her arm. Her dark, short-trimmed hair and porcelain skin almost glowed in the moonlight. She too wore a hooded sweater and black trousers, only her sweater was engraved with a blue flame within a red circle on her shoulder: The sign of the Hyuuga clan. "I know, Kiba-kun" she said softly, "I know."

Minutes passed like hours for the two shinobi, anxiety eating away at their resolve as they knew the approaching enemies coming up on them wouldn't give them a chance for escape. If they were caught, their lives were forfeit, and their home would remain in ruins and their friends and family would never live again. Kiba and Hinata pushed their legs to move even faster.

A wide birthed grove greeted them when they entered the clearing where they would perform the ritual. Hinata landed first, followed by the Inuzuka boy and unfurled the scroll to its full length, nearly twenty paces long where row upon row of secret, powerful, and forbidden Jutsus were written into the paper-like fabric of the hemp material. Hinata paced along the scroll's length to find the exact spell to use while Kiba stayed on guard to warn for enemies.

Not that it would matter. They would be killed before they even managed to reach a safe distance. "Hurry Hinata! There only a kilometer away now. Did you find the spell?"

Hinata nodded, but her face seemed even more pale and grim than before when her eyes scanned through the ritual procedures and steps. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and spoke to Kiba softly, "H-hai, I-I've found the spell, bu-but it-"

"Spit it out!" Kiba snapped, regretting what he said an instant later for speaking so harshly to his team mate.

Despite feeling hurt from her team mate's scold, Hinata answered. "It says we need the life blood of a willing person, enough to make a circle seal of...three feet in radius." Her voice lowered to a whisper when she said the last sentence. "We need three pints of fresh blood. We don't nearly have enough-"

Hinata's despairing words were cut short as Kiba stood next to the kneeling kunoichi and, without even the slightest hesitation, slit his wrist with his kunai. Blood poured like water through a stone crevice as Hinata watched in stunned horror as her team mate walked in a circle to surround Hinata, while squeezing more blood from his wrist to make the kanji signs for _**Sun**_, **_Moon_**, **_Stars_**, _**Heaven**_, and **_Earth_** in a pentagram formation encircled with several dozen different seals almost non-readable as the scroll depicted.

When he was finished, he fisted over a dozen tiny bead-like red pills from his pouch and swallowed them whole. Color instantly returned to his pale face, and his wounded wrist stopped bleeding before Hinata's open eyes. He must have ingested blood pills.

Kiba gave Hinata a hard look that demanded her attention, which it did. "Hurry with the seals Hinata. There isn't much time left."

Hinata nodded solemnly, tears threatening to burst from her eyes as she read the scroll again and again as her hands flashed through the three dozen hand seals with alarming speed until her hand movements were but distorted blurs. Chakra energy flared around her into the fresh blood seal she stoop atop, making the seal glow a bright blue. Seal after seal flashed through her eyes as her hands eventually were making hand seals with such speed, shape deferment was impossible to the average naked eye.

Kiba shifted from foot to foot in an anxious fidget as his nose detected the scent of the Otonin approaching closer. They were only seconds away now. If Hinata didn't finish the ritual soon, both their lives were forfeit.

Before he could even raise voice to urge Hinata to finish, the blue seal flashed into a blinding bright blue column of light that ascended into the sky like a rocket, twisting and swirling into the clouds like a thin twister, illuminating the sky with blue light until it completely disappeared from sight, taking Hinata with it. Kiba had a distinct suspicion the ruined village had seen it. He hoped they did. All the better for the bastard invaders to know they failed to stop them.

Kiba sighed with relief that his team mate had managed to finish the spell, and just in time when over a dozen light-brown robed Otonin leaped into the clearing, with black masks covering their whole heads and revealing only their eyes, and their robes were belted by thick purple ropes fastened behind their backs. They carried no visible weapons, but Kiba knew they wouldn't need any to kill him. He was exhausted, drained, and without even his animal partner Akamaru, who had died from the first attack from the Sound, his chances were slim.

He grinned despite the situation. If he was going to die, he was going down in a blaze of glory and would take these bastards with him. Before any of the Otonin could react, Kiba threw an explosive tag on the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and reduced the scroll into ashes in a globe of fire, illuminating the clearing in garish light. Embers glowed with a bright orange light before they died, smothered by its own consummation.

The Otonin leader growled his displeasure and advanced threateningly toward the weak Inuzuka boy while flipping a kunai in his hand, a promise that death was coming to his door step. "That was very stupid of you, boy. You just reduced Orochimaru-sama's scroll to ash. Had you come along quietly and surrendered the scroll and yourself, our master might have been generous enough to spare your life."

Kiba cocked a sneer to the Jounin leader and tugged at his sweater collar. "The only generosity I'll ever see from that damned freak is when he goes into Hell. Come on ya damn bastards! Let's see who dies first!"

Sneering behind their head masks, eight of the assembled Otonin lept toward Kiba with their kunais ready, clearly thinking they had the advantage and would easily kill Kiba, who was a mear Genin. They thought wrong.

Just before the Otonin could sink their knives into Kiba's flesh, the last surviving Inuzuka ripped open his sweater by the collar, revealing, to the Otonin's horror, his leather armor stitched with dozens upon dozens of Explosive Notes. He gave them all a grin before he ignited one the paper slips with the last reserves of his chakra. His final words were but a ghost of a whisper, but each Otonin heard him clearly.

"Bombs away, suckers!"

**KA-BOOOOM!!**

The thunderous explosion blasted the area into ruin, sending trees flying from their usurped roots and handholds, shrapnel of wood pieces cutting through the air and embedding into the unsuspecting flesh of the nearby Otonins, having themselves blown back by the force of the explosion. Several of the Otonin closest to the blast radius died instantly, either burned by the flames or torn apart by the blast completely, and their ruined corpses flopped listlessly to the ground. Unsurprisingly, Kiba's kami-kaze explosion was seen all the way to the Hokage's Tower, where Orochimaru stood atop the room and looked to the sight of the mushroom-cloud of burning smoke.

Clad in the Hokage's robes stolen from the dead Sarutobi, Orochimaru's pale, serpentine complexion looked downright furious, his golden-yellow eyes drawn thin with vexation. He'd seen the pillar of blue light that came from the same spot that the explosion came from, and could safely assume his henchmen failed to intercept the scroll raiders and even failed to retrieve the scroll, as the explosion looked large enough to decimate a good section of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf). All the same, he was a bit satisfied his henchmen died in the explosion. It saved him the trouble of killing them himself for failing to catch only two Genins.

It didn't matter too much, in the long run, Orochimaru conceded to himself. There were hundreds of scrolls, if not more within the tower that contained Ninjutsus for him to use at his leisure, Konoha was his to use for his followers to expand his soldiers, and the resources of the land itself...He had himself a fortress.

The Snake Sennin laughed raucously in the night air, amidst the shrill screams of Shuukaku. Nothing could stop him now.

Not even the Kyuubi-brat that disappeared before the Chuunin Exam Tournament.

* * *

The knives danced through the air in the Juggler's hands with masterful ease as his audience watched, cheered and offered their spare coins to the performer's upturned hat by his feet. The Juggler wore simple brown leather trousers and a large, white sash around his middle above his sleeveless, red top-robe. Perhaps no more than thirteen or so winters old, his face was was slightly round with a defined hardness to it, a green bandanna wrapped tightly around his scalp, covering his short brown hair. 

The crowd surrounding the performer clapped eagerly as his demonstration of knife-skill was drawing to a close and began to twirl the blades faster and faster around himself, all the while spinning in a slow circle on his heel and effortlessly catching his sharp, double-edged daggers in intercept. When he finally came to a stop with a bow, his daggers held casually in both hands, the crowd of assembled villagers applauded excitedly and deposited their offerings into the Juggler's hat.

"Thank you, everyone," The Juggler said with a light voice but deep accent, "Your charity to this humble performer warms my heart, and for your generosity I will have another performance ready for you all tomorrow, a show even more splendid than that you've just witnessed. Until then, I bid you goodnight." Taking their pause as initiative, the Juggler pulled out a red ball from his pocket and smashed it to the hard-packed dirt ground at his feet and grey smoke exploded from the sphere, immersing the area in harmless smoke. The crowd cried in alarm, but the smoke didn't even irritate their senses.

When the smoke cleared, the Juggler was gone, along with his black head-cap of coins.

Above the crowd, perched on the high-corner top of the lodge building, the Juggler watched the gathered people break away, talking excitedly to one another as they went about his recent performance. The sun was beginning to set behind the surrounding tree-line of the encompassing forest around the Earth Kingdom village, and the sky exploded into a panoramic sight of bright color hues. The Juggler glanced down the length of the pavilion where several other street-side performers were glaring at his previous spot with undisguised jealously for his successful show. Tomorrow would bring him even more coin.

The Juggler slipped his bandanna off his forehead and blew out a breath, and his face began to shimmer and undulate like writhing snakes under silk sheets before his appearance fell away like a mask of evaporated water, revealing tanned skin, red eyes with black, feline slits, blond hair and deep whisker scars on his cheeks.

Seeing no one in the alley below, Naruto silently dropped the two-story height with cat-like grace onto the ground and pulled his hood over his head as he entered into the main pavilion of the village. Passers-by didn't acknowledge him the least and he them. The men and women chatted excitedly with one another about tonight's celebration, couples made their way to the village center hand in hand, and children laughed with unabashed abandon as they rushed passed in groups playing mock-battles of Earthbender verses Firebender and whatnot.

Naruto knew the reason for the festive atmosphere: Tonight was the Harvest Festival.

The Harvest Festival was a holiday celebrated throughout the Earth Kingdom, especially for the smaller villages and minor settlements scattered across the land's great expanse. As each season represented a separate nation; Spring for the extinct Air Nomads, Summer for the Fire Nation, Autumn for the Earth Kingdom, and Winter for the Water Tribes, every Fourth Autumn throughout recorded history was the most sacred because the most abundant and plentiful crops were harvested.

This night would recite the beginning of the harvest season as on the first night -only on the first night- the moon would glow full and high in the dark sky, glowing with a dull red luminescence that signaled the beginning of the harvest season.

For the occasion, all the men and women wore the clothes they toiled in on the fields: Dark tunics and trousers that were dirty and heavy and frayed with wear-and-tear that represented their contribution to the harvest; either by plowing fields, planting seeds, tending crops and watering soil, their clothes were stained with the sweat and blood they gave to the land to grow their crops, which appeased the spirits of the land for their toil and effort for the bounty of the crops.

Naruto didn't care about the celebration. He strode with blind steps to his lodge through the main pavilion, passing exuberant villagers as he went until he reached his destination, the White Castle. The inn was two stories tall, nearly fifty paces wide with walls of solid white mortar and curved-tiled roof corners. Over a dozen open windows spanned across the width of the building, each window leading into a separate room. Glowing lanterns were lit on both sides of the solid oak door. The open windows flanking the door were glowing bright orange from within, and the cacophony of voices and clinking dishes suggested many of the patrons were having their dinner early before the festival.

Naruto didn't pay any attention to the patrons as he slipped inside past the lobby bar and made his way upstairs to his room, even as most of the guests were either just leaving for the festivities or couples were staggering to their rooms to celebrate in more private, intimate fashions. The sounds of playful giggles and laughs followed Naruto all the way to his room before he shut the door. With his back against the door, he studied his room as he did before.

Hard wood composed the floor of the spartan room, where a single open window allowed the night scenery to spill into the room. Only a single large bed of cotton mattresses and thin sheets dominated the interior space of the bedroom in front of the dead hearth. A small kitchen remained unused in the far corner of the apartment and a latrine stall beside it.

Under the open window, a mountain of dark fur, muscle and leathery, bat-like wings slept peacefully. Tenrou's towering form had grown even larger since the month of Smellerbee's absence, but he proved amazingly flexible by fitting his body through the window since his skull wasn't too large, at least just yet. Throughout the time of Smellerbee's absence the loyal wolf tried desperately to cheer his master with only some success. Naruto was suddenly struck with how little he knew of Tenrou's intelligence or emotional understanding to want to keep with him and keep his spirits up. Perhaps he should do something in thanks for his companion's support.

Still the sound of laughter carried into his room through the cracks of his door and the open window and Naruto cursed his keen ears for their hyper-sensitivity. Memories flooded to him, all about Smellerbee; her soft, scratchy voice, her laugh, her messy hair, her lips, he couldn't forget her. The month past, when Smellerbee had left for Ba Sing Sei as agreed when they were attacked by the Yu Yan Archers, Naruto had felt a part of himself become numb, or perhaps simply buried under his loneliness. He could not say for sure.

The only time he wasn't plagued by Smellerbee's absence was when he donned his mask and did what he did best: Be a merciless mercenary, and let the instincts of the Hunter within his psyche drive his sword through his prey.

In the same time, perhaps as a result of merging part of himself with the demon fox or a manufacture of instincts honed from numerous conflicts with dangerous enemies, a new personality was born inside the young shinobi; A pure, primal consciousness almost animalistic, berzerk and unadulterated, capable of killing without mercy, pity, or favor.

The instinct consciousness Naruto had named "The Hunter", the side of him that transformed him into the perfect warrior with the skills and power only able to be matched by master veterans. When he became the Hunter, he was unstopable. The Hunter would only cease in its rampage until every creature and being that posed a threat near him was eliminated. Only through the songs of battle could the Hunter be summoned from within.

Seeing as night had finally fallen and most of the inn patrons had either left for the festival or stayed in their rooms, Naruto went to the Tenrou's discarded saddle and rummaged through the various pouches and cases strapped onto it. Most of the pouches contained food and water for he and the winged wolf, while only two held any of his clothes and ningu (Ninja weapons). He found what he was looking for quickly and pulled out a dark, blood-red hooded cloak with leather straps and iron buckles, lined with steel mesh within the tough, leathery fabric, and over a dozen knife sheaths were strewn into the cloak's inner-lining.

Inside the pouch, Naruto grasped his bloody-red jumpsuit, its color altered by the Kyuubi's energy during the attack by the Yu Yan Archers in the Earth Kingdom General's castle. The cloth material looked only slightly frayed, but the Kyuubi's chakra suffused through the fabric made the material as strong as mail armor while still maintaining its contouring flexibility. Carefully setting it to one side, Naruto peeked down into the near-empty pouch and found what he wanted:

His fox mask.

Lined with red streaks like mimicking whiskers near the nose-tip, the mask was mostly chalk white, with thin eye-slit openings and red curved streaks under the eye holes. Stitched to the mask was a massive wig of red animal hair like a lion's pelt, meant to cover the top of his head. The lower half of the mask was absent for Naruto to perform his Jutsus without hindrance. Made of animal bone soaked for an entire week in fish oil, the mask maker that made it for him was secretive by reputation and made masks for anyone with the right coin and hand-carved it himself. The task had taken the better part of the past month, and Naruto hadn't been called for any hirings since until just yesterday.

And finally there was his Kamujin (God-blade), leaning against his bed, unsheathed. The broad blade he'd used to slay over several of the Yu Yan Archer assassins the month before, it was by far much more than an old weapon the woman had described it to be. It was a double-edged broad blade of obsidian ore unlike any kind of metal Naruto had ever seen, as wide as his wrist and as thick as his finger; with curving, intricate designs in place of a hilt-guard and a boiled, leather-bound curved handle of animal bone and an oval-shaped _**C**_ at the hilt pommel with deep ingraving curves around it. Since the time after the attack from the Yu Yan Archers, Naruto had taken to training with the broad-sword nearly every night, though he'd outright admit his progress was coming along at a snail's pace if anyone asked him, but at least he could hold it one handed with ease and wield it proficiently with his strength and agility.

After he donned his red jumsuit, cloak, and fox mask, Naruto licked his finger and thumb and smothered the candle flame, allowing the darkness to shroud the room and fastened his sheathed sword to his hip in a sword loop-belt. Tenrou didn't move, and Naruto knew his companion was aware he was leaving for his next assignment. The Kyuubi vessel briefly patted the winged wolf's back before bounding from his room and through the window out into the night.

* * *

"Run for your lives!", someone cried in despair, "The Red Fox will kill us all!" 

The hysterical man's words fell on deaf ears as the carnage and destruction raged around him. Men in black and red armor scrambled back and forth across the encampment with weapons held in unsteady hands, komodo-rhino's rushed about in panic as flames engulfed tents and stables and thunderous explosions of fire high-lighted the area in an orange glow in the twilight. Firebenders and foot-soldiers alike rushed to the front where the combat was taking place, weapons in hand and rushing to their deaths.

Fox mask donned, his red jumpsuit dark in the absence of light, the Hunter watched the battle -no, he corrected himself, the slaughter- of the Fire Nation soldiers vainly rushing toward him with spears and swords aimed to kill. His strides were purposeful, confident, and when the first soldier came in range he flicked the sheath-latch holding his sword in its case, pulling his sword free and cutting the spear-blade from the shaft with his Kamujin and beheaded the soldier a heartbeat after, spraying blood from the open neck before the headless body fell to the soil. Scores more came after him, and the Hunter's instincts and enhanced strength and speed allowed him to move in and out and between every soldier and cut them down with his broad sword slashing furiously, making his blood-slicked blade whistle through the air even as his curved, sharp claws on his hands ripped out throats and eviscerated any close target's belly.

Fire-tipped arrows rained down on him from above, but the Kyuubi vessel danced through the projectiles with ease, still hacking and cutting down his surrounding enemies. Only three arrows managed to pierce his flesh and even then Kyuubi's chakra healed his wounds and pushed the arrows out. The Fire Nation soldiers were becoming desperate then, hurling their spears toward their rampant enemy only to be batted aside and broken by the his sword's interception. During every pause in their attacks the Hunter would fling his kunais and shurikens to his enemies, taking more of their numbers by his unsuspecting knives, only to draw them back by his chakra strings and use them again and again while more men fell to the unseen knives. As always, Naruto's clarity of mind returned just as the Hunter receaded into the depths of his psyche, satisfied there would be no more posing threats in the meantime.

A sword-wielding foot-soldier came toward him in red and black armor, hacking and slashing in a furious frenzy of deadly slashes while Naruto blocked each attack in a weaving dance of blades as sparks flew from their sword's contact, desperately holding onto his mental clarity as the Hunter struggled to reclaim control and kill the threat. After about a minute of struggling, the Hunter relented and backed down, giving control to the young shinobi.

Naruto knew if he stayed too long trying to kill one man, the rest might escape. With a deft slash and thrust that severed his opponent's sword-hand and pierced his chest, Naruto brought his hands together and began weaving hand signs while gathering his chakra for his next attack as the soldier fell dead with Kamujin still protruding through his chest and out his back. When the Firebenders began to ready for their inferno blasts, Naruto released his technique by bringing his cupped hand to his mouth, inhaled deeply, then blew.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Style: Fire-dragon Flame Technique)!!" A stream of red and white-hot fire shot forth from his mouth like dragon's breath, engulfing two oncoming platoons of footsoldiers rushing to him with their spears. The flames incinerated their flesh from their bones, leaving charred corpses in the wake of the Kyuubi vessel. Just as abruptly they started to scream, they fell silent. Nearly twenty died in an eye-blink.

The onslaught continued for nearly an hour until the screams fell silent and the flames smothered themselves, leaving the entire encampment in ash and ruin. The ground was littered with fallen corpses and splashes of congealing blood with broken and discarded weapons. Every soldier and Firebender was slain and Naruto had made double certain that none escaped by allowing his Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to finish them off in the encompassing forest surrounding the large encampment that held nearly 350 to 400 Fire Nation soldiers. Naruto's clothes were damp with sweat and early morning humidity as he trudged through the various tents in search of any valuables, but he found only a few bags of gold and silver coins and a few stolen gems. Marking the ground throughout the area were Komodo-rhino tracks going every which way and direction, but Naruto knew they wouldn't alert any nearby Fire Nation troops until a day or more at least.

Naruto spent another hour picking up every Fire Nation soldier's corpse and piling them into a massive mound of dead bodies like a small hill. His hands flashed through several hand seals, ending with a Tiger seal and blew out a stream of red and orange fire from his mouth, setting the pile of bodies ablaze with his Katon Jutsus and bathing the area in garish light. He allowed his eyes to absorb the sight of the bodies burning and murmured a prayer for their souls to find peace in the after-life. As of recently, killing had only distracted him from Smellerbee's absence, but he took no pleasure in taking lives. He did only as he was paid.

Having procured one of the documents from the largest tent that was undoubtedly the General's, for whose' name Naruto didn't know or care to, he now had viable proof of his kills to receive his full payment, and he didn't want to risk being found with a severed head in one of his leather bags since the smell of blood would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention from the more predatory forest denizens. The rolled scroll parchment was inscribed with orders by some higher Fire Nation Military official with a seal of authenticity for some raid to a nearby village. Unfortunately for them, they failed before their orders could be carried out.

Staying for only a heartbeat longer while gazing at the destruction he wrought to this camp, he leaped away into the forest just as the sun rose and spilled its pure light onto the bloodied sight.

* * *

"Job well done, my young friend! This document is authentic. Here is your pay, and have a nice day." 

Taking the heavy bag of coins and fastening it to his sash belt, Naruto gave his newest employer (he didn't bother to remember his name) a short nod before he turned to the leather flap acting as the establishment's "door" and shoved it aside as he exited and into the avenue of the village he was staying in for the time being. He'd made extra certain to deposit his bloodied clothes and weapons and mask back at the lodge and used several layers of Genjutsu disguises over himself, appearing as a young man with short-cropped brown hair wearing tan leathers.

Morning light spilled onto every surface of the hardwood and rock roofs and walls o the buildings and walkways along the street. Even in the early morning people were emerging from their homes and went to do whatever work they set about to do. The Harvest Festival had, from Naruto's understanding of the denizen's expressions, been a success. Men and women alike were garbed once more in their labor breaches, tunics, and leather trousers, dresses, and robes. He passed a group of children Earthbenders using their elemental manipulation to kick a brown ball of hard leather back and forth while raising ramps and slides and small slopes of Earth to maneuver the ball into the opposing goal nets. Sauntering past without stop he heard the triumphant cries of sportsman-like victory a moment later.

The merriment around him made him feel like he was suffocating. It all seemed so wrong that these people could ignore the very real threats and dangers that lurked just outside their borders. Didn't they realize their enemies were just waiting outside their homes and ready to kill, enslave, imprison, and do only the god's knew what else they could to these Innocent people?

Naruto knew his rage was getting the better of him and tried to breathe deeply to calm himself, releasing his white-knuckle grip and bringing his flexed claws from his bleeding palms that quickly healed without rousing any attention from the passing pedestrians. Ever since he and Kyuubi had merged, allowing the blond shinobi to become a half-demon, his rage had gotten almost volatile and uncontrollable when only slightly disturbed. None of Kyuubi's sagacious words of wisdom could help Naruto tame a beast already free from its cage and nearly ten-year imprisonment.

He reached the White Castle inn within mere moments and went strait for the bar. The barkeeper behind the stall was gaunt and tall with loose trousers and tunic, an apron over his front, and a bandanna covering his brown-haired scalp. His sunken face was speckled with salt-and-pepper facial stubble. When Naruto sat himself down on one of the stools in front of the bartender, the gaunt man turned to him.

"What can I get for ya?" he asked in a deep voice and accent despite his thin stature.

"Firewhiskey please, and leave the bottle." Naruto dropped two gold coins onto the counter for emphasis and prepayment. The bartender hurriedly scoop up the gold coins and went to get his customer's beverage.

Naruto wasn't an alcohol addict, nor did he find the smell or taste very pleasant, but restlessness and his acute senses usually kept him awake at nights for hours and sometimes needed the occasional drink to put him into a dreamless sleep he liked. Firewhiskey was the strongest alcoholic drink between the Four Nations, originally brewed from the Fire Nation some two hundred years ago, and one bottle was strong enough to put down a rampaging komodo-rhino in under a ten count. Fortunately, Naruto's constitution was greater than a komodo-rhino's.

After the bartender gave him bottle of red alcohol and clay cup for drinking, Naruto wasted no time in emptying the first bottle within only several minutes and called for another, then a third. When on his third bottle, Naruto was please to find his senses dulling and his limbs relaxing. He heard a purr in his mind and knew the Kyuubi must like the drunk sensation too, despite the sharp burn of every gulp or swig of firewhiskey that left a soothing warmth in his belly. It must be almost dusk by now with so few patrons left in the bar.

"Ye ought ta nowt overindulge yerself, pal. Ye'll get yerself too plastered ta even ge'to yer room."

Nearly jumping from a start of surprise from the voice, Naruto turned to his left where the speaker sat. He was a man of slim but solid build with a sharp face and narrow eyes. He wore a loose black top-robe under an auburn-red vest of animal hide and trousers of pitch-blue, held up by a white sash belt. On his back was a black case the length of a man's leg and a green bandanna over his head. His sideburns peeking from his bandanna suggested his hair was a bloody red.

The man dropped his ale and turned in his stool to Naruto. "Where're me manners? I haven' given ye me name yet, 'ave I?" He held out his hand to shake. "Me name 's Serrin, friend. Sorry for th' unannounced intro, but I'm very lonely an' wan'ed to strike a conversation to pass th' time. So, who might ye be?"

Naruto took Serrin's hand and shook it, but his alcohol-induced mind was sharp enough to note the change in slur from the stranger's voice and of sneaking up beside him without his awares which made the Hunter within him wary. Was this man trying to feign drunkenness to make himself be presented as deceptively harmless while masking his killer intent?

Naruto shrugged the notion away, managing to ese the Hunter down with only a little effort. He just wanted to finish his drink, get to sleep in his room, then leave tomorrow to the next village. No sense in trying to look for enemies in every person he comes across, especially since he reasoned his drink was clouding his senses. It was only at that moment did he remember he forgot to get to his performing corner to present his knife show, but he didn't really care. He had more than enough coin to last him months in comfortable luxury, so why try to get more than he needed? He could wait for a time before taking up any more paid tasks.

When Naruto didn't give the stranger his name, Serrin returned his attention to his cup of ale, but seemed disinclined to continue drinking form it. "Ya seem a bit down in th' dumps, if ye'll excuse me choice o' words. Goin' anywhere this eve?"

Naruto shook his head, hopeful that Serrin would just lose interest and go away to leave him to his drink.

Serrin was oblivious to the young shinobi's discomfort and just smiled all the more while he rabbled on. "Why so silent, my friend? Surely ye enjoyed de Harvest Fest las' night, aye?"

Naruto shook his head, saying nothing.

"Damn pity" Serrin said with a sigh, "Ye missed quite a party. Meads of de finest brew, roasted meat dat melted in yer mouth, gorgeous women left an' right, no man left without pleasurable company...Ahh, whadda night." Serrin glanced sideways to the unresponsive young man. "Not the talkin' type, are ye?"

Again Naruto shook his head, keeping silent.

"Ah, well. Guess I should give ya yer time alone." Serrin dropped three silver coins onto the bar counter and sat up to walk to the doorway. "By da way, don' drink too much or ye get sick, boy. Hangover's a merciless wench."

Naruto just nodded as Serrin exited the Inn, hardly heeding Serrin's advice and gulped down another swig-

He paused. Clarity of mind returned to him in an instant.

He called him _boy_.

He saw through his disguise.

Slamming his earthenware cup onto the counter and nearly breaking it, Naruto made a fast break to the exit, ignorant of the other patrons' surprised and confused looks they sent him as he shoved himself outside, catching onto the doorframe.

No one was outside. Not even a stray or random pedestrian left or right, like sound and activity just disappeared. Serrin had not even been walking fast, barely a comfortable stride, so how did he disappeare so quickly? Where did he go?

A cold feeling of dread and unease churned inside his belly. Who was this Serrin person that could see through his Genjutsus? What was he after?

Naruto didn't know. Too many questions, too little clues. And not enough time.

He had to leave tonight.

* * *

Serrin watched the young man from above atop the very inn he had his drink. The lad hadn't even sensed him yet, but he would soon enough, Serrin knew. The boy's senses were sharp, his mind as finely honed as a blade. Even under the drunk stupor of firewhiskey he had discerned the implications of his departing words. Serrin had to addmit to himself that his disguise was powerful under the veil of illusions, nearly making him miss the subtle details only his trained eye could perceive. Only the most powerful illusions of the mind alone could fool Serrin's watchful sight. 

It was, after all, what earned him his place in the Yu Yan Clan.

"How long will you watch our prey like a childish idiot, Serrin?"

Serrin looked over his shoulder to the two figures standing at his back, strait backed and squar shouldered.

The tallest one, taller than Serrin himself, was a bald and stonefaced male with black eye-lenses and a sleeveless tan robe fastened by a thick sash and red hemp rope around his waist, his strong, wiry arms flexed at his sides and making his muscles stand out. Instead of boots, sandals, or even clogs, steel-metal contraptions were buckled around his ankles and over the tops of his feet. Each foot-contraption had four ball-wheels on the bottom with tubes and sheathed wires bolted on its sides. Serrin couldn't see his weapon, but knew he had it stashed on his person.

The second one, the smallest of the trio, had wild auburn hair that fell over his eyes like a veil in clumping strands, covering the left side of his handsome, frowning face with brown eyes. He wore loose white trousers and top robe over a red shirt and auburn boots with curving gold designs on the toes, his wrists cuffed with iron bracers. A black sash was tied around his waist and belly under a sword belt where his tai-chi sword hung comfortably at his hip.

Serrin rose and turned to the two with a disarming smile. "Young, Giichi. What a pleasant surprise! How long did you two get here?"

Giichi, the taller bald one, pushed the rim of his lenses up his nose as he replied impatiently "Two hours we have waited for you to make contact with the Red Fox and now as night is fallling, you let him get away and warn him of your awareness of his identity." Despite the level of calm intelligence in his voice, his eyes turned stormy behind his black lenses. "We've lost the upperhand advantage because of your incompitence!"

"Calm yourself, elder brother" Serrin said soothingly, "I know what I've been doing and he's already suspicious of me, so don't bother thinking of trying to mend what's already done. He'll leave tonight to ventrue to the next village where we can handle him in the forest." Serrin's grin grew wider. "Not even his winged wolf could help in that crowded enclosure of trees. All we must do is wait for him in the forest and strike when he's unprepared. A simple task, nay?"

"What I don't understand" said the younger, auburn-haired Young, "is why we didn't attack him in his lodge where we could just kill him by burning and locking the room. Either he could roast or sufficate. Why go through the trouble of fighting him in open ground?"

"Where would the fun in that be? We haven't been out of the Keep in over a decade. Surely you want to have a little more sport with our quarry?"

"Our master" Giichi interjected curtly, "ordered us to see if we can have him join our clan first and foremost before we kill him _if_ he refuses."

"Father's never been the type to have any kind of fun aside from raping, torturing and killing anyway. What happened to thrill of hunting one's prey, stalking it through the terrain and making the final kill worthwhile?"

Despite themselves, Young and Giichi looked considerate to Serrin's notion. It was true that their sire didn't allow them too many freedoms, especially venturing outside their keep, so perhaps haveing some time away would prove benificial before they were innevitably brought back behind their fortress walls. It was definetly better than endless weapon practice, tutoring, and combat training.

"Your proposition is acceptable" Giichi said with an incline of his bald head.

"I'm for your idea" Young added, "so long as we can eventually kill the Red Fox. I doubt he would consent to our master's offer in either event."

"True, true. Anyway, let's get to the forest quickly before he and his wolf take off to the skies. We'll show him the power of the Yu Yan Clan."

And without another pause, the trio of brothers disappeared into the darkness of the night, weaving their way to the outskirts of the village.

* * *

After making certain he couldn't find the elusive Serrin on any side of the plaza, Naruto returned inside and strided passed the bar and the curious glancing bar patrons and rushed up to his rented room and began packing everything into his pouches and saddle-bags. Tenrou awoke with a start as he heard his rider clambering to gather all his belongings together, raising his massive head and lifting his ears in confusion. 

Naruto turned to his animal companion, dispersing the illusion masks from his face as he knew it was pointless after Serrin saw through them. No point in wearing a mask if someone knew your face. He hefted Tenrou's saddle and dropped it beside the massive wolf. "Get outside and make ready for departure, we're leaving in a thirty count and no more else our enemies will trap us."

The winged wolf growled in fury and flexed his muscled body at hearing this, understanding they were in great danger from an approaching foe.

"No. We're not going to fight now, there's something wrong. We can't afford to bring any combat into the village and I don't know how many enemies there are. We have to leave NOW!"

Taking his consent, Tenrou nodded with his intelligent teal eyes and shoved his head through the window opening and slowly began to push his body through, folding his wings to his back while his powerful hind legs and claws pushed him forward. In about ten seconds that seemed like a lifetime to the wary shinobi, Tenrou was out the window and waiting on the ground below. Naruto heaved Tenrou's saddle and threw it out the window and followed his companion's route out the opening, landing with a soft _thump_ onto the soil. He looked left and right and through the darkness of the night and the tree thicket for any hostile movement, seeing none, then quickly fitted Tenrou's saddle onto the winged beast. Naruto scanned around themselves once more before pulling himself onto Tenrou's back, spuring the winged wolf into flight only a hearbeat after, climbing above the tree-tops in only one flap of Tenrou's massive leathery wings and soaring above the canopy of the forest below.

Naruto wasn't aware how long they were airborn, perhaps a minute or less, when he suddenly heard Kyuubi's voice shout suddenly in his mind, **Kit! Move your ass away now! Enemy on your left! Get away now!**

Startled, Naruto turned to left where he caught sight of movement and a dark, winged-form flighting to him-

A horrible screech blasted his eardrums with the force of a war hammer, like the sound of a thousand dying shreiks and screams that pierced through his head like an arrow with skull-scraping pain. He felt an air displacement slam into him and his companion, leaving them staggering and realing from the strange attack and the air blew past him as he and the winged wolf, both having suffered the dizzying sound, plummeted into the forest. They crashed through the boughs and thick branches and trunks that whipped and struck at their open bodies before Tenrou, having regained some control of his senses through the hard hits of the buffeting tree limbs, brought himself skidding to a stop on the leaf- and grass-blanketed earth with his feet, anchoring into the soil and dragging deep furrows in the ground as his momentum carried them for another twenty paces then slowed to sudden stop, throwing Naruto from Tenrou's back and slamming him onto the ground in a tumble.

For a moment, Naruto couldn't move. He tried to command his limbs to do what he wanted, but paralysis gripped him in an iron vice. He could only feel the pain of his deep bruises from the whacking tree limbs he and his steed had crashed through and the intake and exhale of his labored breathing. What happened? What was that horrible sound? Some animal? Where?

Several agonizing seconds crawled by when sensation returned to his limbs. A flaring jolt of pain lighted through his body like he was struck by a battering ram as he clambered to his feet, slowly so as to not aggrivate any serious damages. He had to bit his lip to keep from howling in agony, drawing blood from his lip by his fang's sharp point. Staggering, swaying on his unsteady feet, Naruto glanced back to Tenrou and saw the wolf more or less incapable of heaving his bulk onto steady legs, only heaving great breaths to recover from the unprepared blast. One of his wings were broken, the leathery membrane of his pinions torn like a worn cloak. He wasn't flying any time soon.

"Damn shame for your wolf. He's down and out, isn't he? Won't be much help to you now."

Naruto jumped in surprise and pivoted to the voice's source, barely managing to keep from screaming in pain from the movement. He and Tenrou had landed into a grove of a circle of thick-trunked evergreens and bushels between them, dense wild-vines constricting and coiling around the tree bases like thin green serpents.

Not fifteen paces ahead of him were three figures. He recognized Serrin immediately in the middle, but other two; the taller bald one with black circular glasses and the shorter one with wild auburn hair, he had never seen. The bald one had a hard and defined face and wore a pale-brown robe with a tight sash belt. The auburn haired one had warrior's clothes and a tai-chi sword resting at his hip. The trio's expressions might have differed, but Naruto could feel the waves of killer intent pulsing off their imposing figures like the heat waves resonating off boiling-hot metal, or heat-tempered steel.

Judging from their trained postures, his choice of metaphor was a little too accurate for his comfort.

Serrin stepped in front of his brothers, still wearing the same clothes as before but minus his bandanna, allowing his striking red hair to stand on end. His smile was a mix of amusement and false-good-nature. "Had a little tumble up in the sky? Really, I thought you had more sense than to go about all intoxicated and all and on firewhiskey too. Didn't your parents ever tell you to be wary of alcohol?"

The Kyuubi vessel would have laughed at Serrin's joke in absurdity and to the irony of it that he never had any parents, but with adrenelin steadily dulling his pain, heightening his senses, and strengthening his body, Naruto kept himself still, waiting for the time to strike. As the trio stepped toward him at once, the prone half-demon felt a different energy eminating from each of the assailants. One felt like the faint brush of a small breeze, another like the chill of ice, the last like the restrained heat from a blazing inferno.

Naruto narrowed his crimson eyes. Elemental benders? Who?

A lupine snarl snapped Naruto from his private questionings to peer behind his back. Tenrou was now steady on his feet and fell into a clear stance to stand his ground and fight despite his broken wing hanging limply at his side and touching the grass. His teal-green eyes were glowing with feral agression.

Giichi merely adjusted his glass-lenses and stepped forward as his brothers paused, halting in their steps. "Your beast is lame, yet it wants to fight still after the injuries it received? Either it's very determined, or very stupid."

"Now, now, elder brother," Serrin said with insulting soothness. "No need to mock a beast after it's been put down, is there?"

Tenrou's sharp hearing took every word passed between them and leeped forward with a deafening roar of rage, claws and fangs poised to kill, teal eyes hardened for death.

Naruto hadn't managed a breath of a warning before the winged wolf was slammed from his side by an equally large reptilian body in mid-flight, throwing the injured beast to the floor and skidding to a hard stop against the thick trunk of an old evergreen. The sound of impact was like a sheet of leather being struck by spiked club with a sickening _boom-crack_.

Startled, Naruto panned his head to the creature that tackled his companion. At first he mistook it for a wingless dragon, but on further inspection it was an enormous lizard/salamander hybrid creature with a mottled-scaled hide of a light blue underside and dark blue dorsal side. Each of its muscular six legs armed with curved, hand-length silver talons as thick as spear-shafts and a heavy, whiplike tail longer than its twenty-foot body by a third. Its head was arrow-shaped and traingular from every angle it turned its head around with barred fangs and teeth like dagger-blades arming a muscular jaw and neck. Glowing yellow eyes shined with violent fury and viciousness under its pronounced, supraocular brow-scales.

Serrin looked mildly disappointed at the abruptness of the wolf's defeat. "That's no fun. I wanted to see a struggle between them and see which one would win. Instead the damn throw-rug just topples over like a pile of twigs. What a weak creature-"

In his fury hearing Serrin's mocking words, Naruto struck. In an instant he translocated himself by driving Kyuubi's energy into his legs and jumped from his crouched position, bounded off a flanking tree base in a spin, and pulled his broadsword from its sheath and slashed downward in a quick, fluid motion from behind the distracted Serrin.

Instead of the sound of splitting bone and cutting flesh as Naruto expected, his blade clashed with Young's outstretched sword in an ear-splitting _clang!_ and rebounded from the sword's recoil, shoving the young shinobi back aloft off the ground, falling into a crouch and skidding on his heels several paces back. His eyesight perceived Young's quick movement and brought his sword up just as the auburn-hair assailant slashed at him with a cross-cut that could have opened his throat.

With a snarl of rage Naruto shoved Young back with his greater strength and pressed the attack, hacking, slashing, and thrusting with his sword while alternating slashes, punches, and kicks when opertunity permitted him his chance, silently calling on the Hunter to fight. But Young seemed to be having no trouble in keeping the Kyuubi vessel at a distance while still managing to open minor, shallow cuts as he remained untouched. Naruto felt his limbs becoming heavy and his chest tightening with pain while his opponent seemed barely winded, as if he were just strolling through a park. Why wasn't the Hunter coming?

When a minute passed, Young made his first mistake; tripping on a thick tree root peeking from the ground and sending him falling backwards. Naruto capitalized on Young's vulnerablity and sent an upper-cut into his ribs-

Only for his hand to pass through empty space and the fly back from hard kick to his jaw. Young must have moved so swiftly he left a visual after-image of himself before delivering his most recent blow. He rolled back to his feet and turned just in time for Giichi to shoot from the cover of the trees with a _boom!_ and threw a chained weapon at his head. When Naruto intercepted the flying weapon, he noted the circular blade-ring attached to a skull-pomeled handle like a shackle cuff. Giichi pulled back his ring-blade and threw several daggers Naruto barely batted aside while one of the shadowed knives buried into his thigh.

Affording no more risks and gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg, Naruto brought his forefingers together and conjured five Kage Bunshins and had them attack Giichi and Young while he set to get to Tenrou and hopefully escape before he became overrunned-

Agony flared through him. He looked down at his belly and saw the tip of a spear-point protruding just below his rib-cage. His steps faltered, shock driving his momentum stumbling sideways before Naruto glimpsed Serrin intercept in front of him and deliver a spinning heel kick to his head and face-first into a tree bough. He fell like a stringless puppet to the ground, bleeding, wounded, tired, defeated, with Serrin's spear still buried in his back.

Serrin looked down on Naruto's helpless form distainfully with a an expression of fury and disappointment like a hunt too easily achieved for one wanting excitement. He blew a hard sigh. "Too damn easy. Maybe next time we ever find another like you we'll just go one-on-one. You fell too quickly for my liking."

Naruto would have snarled in defiance to the bastard's insults, speaking about him like a damn game animal, only his consciousness was waning with every breath. He coughed up blood as he attempted to breathe, a clear sign of internal injury. Yards away behind Serrin was the damn blue dragon lizard bearing its weight down on Tenrou, pinning the wolf to the ground. Its breath curled and frosted in the air. It must be some breath weapon.

The Kyuubi vessel wanted to keep fighting, help his animal companion, slay his assailants, yet knew he could do nothing. A prickle in the back of his eyes told him his Kage Bunshins were dispersed, and now they were at the mercy of the assassins without any hope of escape.

**Don't you DARE give up, Kit!** Kyuubi said suddenly in Naruto's thoughts.** You're not dead yet, so don't think of throwing in the towel so early. You still have a chance to fight and kill these bastards. You can still tap into my chakra -Our chakra!- and beat them in a single attack. **

**You haven't come this far just to let yourself get killed by these scum, godsdamnit! And I won't let you give up before at least trying. On your feet! Take out that spear in your back, throw it back to the Serrin-bastard and spear him through, then tear them all apart with your claws -that blue lizard included- and show them what you can do. Come on! ON YOUR DAMNED FEET!!**

Gritting his teeth and willing himself to stay conscious, Naruto knew Kyuubi was right. He couldn't give up now. He was still alive, not dead, and he had to help Tenrou. Digging deep into himself and concentraiting with every last ounce of his will, he began to pull the Kyuubi's chakra from the seal and direct it to repair his wounds. Heat and strength flooded into him again, and he could sense the Kyuubi's demonic energy struggling to push the spear from his back to seal his wound. While it was repairing his flesh, Naruto strained in controling the flow so as to not alert the gathering assassin trio. He experimented how much feeling he had in his limbs by twitching his legs and arms, holding in a sigh of relief that he found his spine wasn't severed by the spear-blade. He gripped the spear shaft from behind awkwardly and slowly pulled the weapon from his flesh, stiffling every scream of pain by biting his tongue.

"Well, he's not going to live with that spear through his back." Young said with a snide, sarcastic tone to Serrin, "Excellent work, you damn idiot! Just as we were about to propose having him join our clan, you had to provoke him with that damn tongue of your's and nearly lost your head had I not stopped him. Don't you ever think before you open that mouth of yours, or are you really so stupid and impatient that you would risk father's rage at our failure and incompitence?!"

"What can I say?" Serrin replied with an amused tone and grin, shrugging, "I'm unpredictable. Make's it better to keep your oponent unaware of your intent and all. Besides, we can still just take him to the Keep and have our surgeons fix him up. I don't think I hit any vital organs."

"Thinking" Giichi said with a cold tone, "should be reserved to those who take in to consideration of the facts and of objectives. We were to give him the option of joining our clan with persuasion and kill him _only if_ he refused! I agree with Young that you should either control that urge to say something stupid at every waking moment else I'll cut it from your throat. I'll not tolerate any liability among our party, not even of my flesh and blood, if only though that you're my half-brother."

"Your words will be taken to heart after I get scolded from dear father." Serrin said derrisively.

Suddenly the assassin's salamandragon, Coldfang, hissed like a smelted sword dipped in cold water at the prone form of their quarry. Serrin and his brothers turned to what distressed Coldfang and felt their bodies petrify from the sight before them.

Wisps and tendrils of burning red and orange chakra slowly poured out of Naruto's body like tongues of flame, spiraling above the steadily rising shinobi before twisting back into him. Naruto gritted his teeth until he tasted the coppery tang of blood from his gums, forcing his body upright to face his opponents. Every minute movement nearly made him scream in agony. He couldn't tell from which wounds the pain still burned, but shoved it aside. He would endure the pain, harness it to drive his strength. Pain was a human's best teacher, but just an excuse for failure at the same time. Success laid beyond pain.

**Godsdamned right**, Kyuubi said as Naruto finally got to his feet, squaring his shoulders and facing the assassin trio. **Godsdamned right.**

Naruto smiled at the demon's praise. It might be the first, but he felt certain it would be the last.

At least he'd take one of these bastards with him into the fires of hell that awaited him in death. Death smiles on all, why not just smile back?

Naruto knew the effects of fear-induced paralysis of Kyuubi's chakra would wear off soon, so he gathered all the demonic power from the seal he could bear and felt the energy bleed from his skin, his pores, coiling and thickening around the shape of his body, leaving him encased in a garish red barrier that would do as he willed. A tail of pure-red, shimmering chakra sprouted from the barrier formation near his lower-back, swishing back and forth as twin points grew and lengthened atop his head like fox ears. Power swelled within every blood vessel, every breath, every limb and muscle, he felt invincible.

"And now" Naruto said in a basseto voice like a growl and rasp , "You will pay for daring to attack me. But first, I'll pay back your damn lizard for harming my companion."

Quick as a snake, Naruto whipped his clawed arm and the red chakra surrounding it shot forth, extending and grasping the blue salamandragon within a vice-grip of clawed hands of raw energy. The beast struggled futily in his grip, hissing and roaring as Naruto lifted the beast from the ground like a stone and swung the animal like the spiked ball of a mace into the thicket of the forest's trees, smashing the giant reptile through six thick evergreens by the sheer force of his strength before tossing the unconscious and broken creature into the tree canopy.

Young was the first to regain control of his body, freed from the spell of paralysis and bounded forward toward the glowing half-demon while pulling his sword from his sheath once more and began a furious attack upon Naruto who managed to evade every sword-stroke by minor margine and slashed with his chakra claws at every opening in Young's defense.

Giichi recoverd next and his foot-contraptions whirred and the ball-wheels began spinning and digging into the soil before he shot forward like an arrow, whipping his shackle-cuff blade-snare out and holding the chain in one hand and the hilt in the other. Just as Naruto hoped he could come.

Thrusting a hard kick into Young's belly and throwing the auburn-haired assassin back from the blow, Naruto turned to Giichi just as he came in distance for the bald warrior to strike. Naruto couldn't bring forth the Hunter this time, so he to trust his instincts. He hefted Serrin's spear he pulled from his back and threw it to the oncoming Giichi, striking him in the hip with the spear-point. The assassin buckled from the injury.

Giichi taken care of, Naruto turned his crimson gaze to Serrin, still standing where he was left paralyzed. His expression was level, even, as though he could see everything in this situation and turn it to his advantage. Naruto prepared his chakra-claws, lengthening the talons of energy into razor-sharp points.

"Enough" Serrin said at last, stopping Naruto and Young from continuing, "You've proven yourself more than capable of fighting us, but even I can tell you're on your last reserves. We'll let you go for the time until we meet again so we can treat our wounds and you your's. Agreed?"

Young glared at Serrin with a mix of venom and disbelief, but Naruto consented before the youngest assassin could raise protest. He allowed the reluctent Young to pick up the wounded Giichi and help him limp away with his arm over Young's shoulder while still holding Serrin's spear. Storm clouds gathered overhead and thunder boomed in the distance, muffled by the density of the packed trees. Rain would be coming soon but Naruto didn't dare look away from Serrin's gaze and kept the field of Kyuubi's chakra around himself as the red-haired assassin made a slight bow and turned away to disappear into the darkness of the forest to follow his brothers.

Droplets of rain began to fall from the sky now. Sensing none of the assassin trio, Naruto allowed the red chakra around himself to recede back into the seal of his belly and nearly buckled under the strain of his own weight and pain from the numerous wounds suffered by the conflict. Willing his body to comand and bearing the pain, he went over to Tenrou and gently roused the injured wolf. His teal green eyes opened just as the downpour of the storm began to fall heavily onto the land, soaking Naruto's leathers and Tenrou's fur. He bade the animal to get on his feet to tend to his wounds.

After he finished with tending to the wolf's injuries, Naruto was nearly spent with exhaustion, and the weight of his waterlogged clothes were making him sway unsteadily in his saddle atop the healed Tenrou, though his wing would take another week at best to be fully healed. Minutes passed like hours to the duo as they trotted through the forest and began to feel the biting chill of the cold rain. Several times thunder boomed overhead directly above them yet they paid it little notice. Naruto and Tenrou needed to find shelter.

The forest ended to the wide ranch of a small Earth Kingdom home with several small stables of ostritch-horses tucked safely in their pens away from the rain. Tenrou went to the front door entrance without Naruto's directing and let his master down to knock on the door. Three knocks boomed and Naruto and Tenrou waited anxiously for an answer as water dripped off their soaked bodies.

Then the door swung open with a creek. Naruto started to ask if he and his companion could lodge for the night, but his words died in his throat when his eyes fell on the person in the doorway.

Dark violet hair with face framing bangs. Soft features befitting a princess. Pale skin and cherry blossom-pink lips.

Pale Lavender eyes.

"Hinata-chan?"

Unable to handle the stress anymore, Naruto's body crumpled in a heep at the feet of the doorway, his consciousness slipping into oblivion as he watched Hinata's face grow frantic above him and called for help from inside the house over her shoulder.

His last thought before closing his eyes was the relief he felt when his heart, numb for so long, felt a fleeting peace...


	5. Chapter 5

Due to some difficulty in keeping up with my school work, I'll have to abandon this fic.

I apologize to any of you readers that may have enjoyed this fanfic of mine, but as it is, I found its plot slowly going downhill. Hopefully I'll get back to it on another date.

However, I'll leave this message here so to remind myself to get back to it once I'm done with school.

My sincerest apologies,

Kagehisa


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